


Forgiveness

by zeusfluff



Category: Fringe
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:23:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 33,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeusfluff/pseuds/zeusfluff
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few weeks after the birth of their daughter Emily, Peter and Olivia get news that she has contracted a disease that cannot be treated by any known medicine. So begins their long road to finding themselves and having their daughter bring them back together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily.

 

 

March 2nd, 2012

           

Peter and I were driving. Where to, I didn't know. With one hand on the steering wheel, the other was laced in my left hand as my right one rested on my stomach. Peter had now pulled over to the side of the road. A car with its flashers was on. Peter got out and looked inside the car. I carefully stepped out of the truck and started walking towards him.

 

“Honey, go back to the car. This is no place for you.”

           

I went back towards the truck. I grabbed onto the handle when sharp pain ripped through my abdomen. I opened up the back and climbed in. I lay down on the blanket and kept myself as calm as possible. I took deep breaths to relax myself. I knew what was going to happen now. I heard Peter's voice.

“Liv, sweetheart, where are you?”

           

I gave a little yelp and grabbed onto the blanket. Peter showed up in my line of vision and climbed in the back with me. His worried expression didn't give me any comfort.

 

“Peter the baby's coming. Call for help.”            

 

Peter shook his head at me. We were in the middle of nowhere.

 

“Liv, if you haven't noticed we're in the middle of nowhere and there is no cell-service.”

           

I swallowed and watched as he rolled up his sleeves on his polo shirt.

 

“Peter you can't deliver this baby. You're not a qualified doctor.”

           

Peter nodded his head in acknowledgement.

 

“I know, but I'm the only one here. We can do this Liv. Just focus on your breathing.”

           

On the next contraction, I bore down on it and took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as Peter rifled through the med-kit I'd had stored in the back of my truck in case of an emergency. I saw a flash of a wedding band as he cleaned his hands with hand sanitizer. I saw him blow into a pair of latex gloves so that they would be easier to put on. He looked at me and put on a semi-brave smile.

 

“Peter, I'm scared. What if something goes wrong?”

           

Peter only gave me a reassuring smile and patted my thigh.

 

“We'll worry about it when we get there. I need you to relax. Tell me if something hurts okay? I'll try to be as gentle as possible.”

           

I bit my lip and looked up at the ceiling. I was uncomfortable, but I was doing my best. I screamed...

 

“Peter please help me...”

           

The look in Peter’s eyes scared me, but I knew we could get through this. He nodded his head in agreement and grabbed for his cell phone in his coat pocket. It was snowing outside and I was getting cold by the draft. He held his cell up towards the ceiling of the car and dialed 9-1-1. I took a deep breath in to curb the pain.

“Yes, my wife’s having a baby and were just off route 90. Where? Mile mark 62. Could you try and coach me through this? Yes she’s staying calm and no I haven’t seen the baby’s head yet, she’s only dilated four centimeters. Now what do I do next?  NO YOU LISTEN TO ME! HOW SOON CAN YOU GET SOMEONE OUT HERE? 3 HOURS! NO MY WIFE NEEDS SOMEONE NOW! SHE DOESN'T HAVE THREE HOURS! ANYTHING COULD GO WRONG! I'M DOING THE BEST I CAN HERE! HELLO? HELLO! PIECE OF CRAP RECEPTION, IT DROPPED MY CALL!”

           

I only looked up at Peter, sweat beginning to pour into my eyes. I saw him take a wash cloth he'd found in the med-kit lying next to me and wipe my forehead. I tried to give him my bravest smile I could muster up.

 

"Why don't you have this baby for me?"

           

Peter only looked at me sympathetically and brushed a hand lightly over my forehead and then kissed it.

 

"You know I would if I could Liv. I know it hurts, just try and relax. This light in here is terrible, it's hard to see. Relax, that's it. That's my girl. Let me know if anything hurts okay?"

           

I nodded my head and bit my lip. I gasped and grabbed onto the blankets suddenly, I saw Peter's face pale in front of me.

 

"Peter help me! Help me! Help me! Help me! It really hurts! Get the baby out!"

           

His face paled even more when he looked at me. I couldn't concentrate on anything that was going on. I cried louder.

 

“This baby needs to be turned around, but you're not exactly at a point where I can help turn her around yet... Five centimeters ain't gonna cut it Liv... Five more is all we need Liv. Relax.”

           

Now it was my turn to pale. _What?_ I did my best to try and relax myself more to try and speed up the process. I was out of breath though. Peter kept his head high and was my encouragement.

 

“You’re doing just fine Liv. We’re almost there; I just need you to relax a little more. That’s it. Just relax Liv. I'm right here. I won't leave you. Breathe through it. I know it hurts, but try and think of something else. Think of being on a warm sandy beach, with clear blue water lapping at your feet. The sand is a gold color and it's warm on your bare feet...”

           

I could only look at Peter with an annoyed look.

 

“What are you a Paramedic and a Lamaze coach now too? You have no idea what I'm even going through right now! How would you like to push something out the size of a melon?”

           

Peter only swallowed and wiped the sweat away from my forehead. I licked my parched lips and sighed frustrated. He smiled at me tiredly and gave me a thumbs up.

 

“We’re there. Just relax; this might feel a little weird.”

           

I nodded my head and bit my lip, closing my eyes. Gripping the blanket tightly and a few uncomfortable minutes later, the pressure wasn’t as intense.

 

“You’re doing so good Liv. We’re going to start pushing now. Come on I know you can do this. If you can kill several shape shifters at once, this should be no problem. Okay, good girl. Give me one big strong push now. That’s it. You’re doing just fine. One more. One more for me. That’s it. One more big strong push and we should be done. Okay? One more for me, one more for me. There we go. It’s a girl Liv! It’s a girl! Our Emily.”

           

I plopped my head back on the blanket and watched tiredly as Peter carefully separated the umbilical cord that had connected us. He wrapped her in a towel and placed her into my arms. It wasn’t until I heard her belt out one good strong cry that I burst into tears myself. Peter placed a soft kiss onto my forehead and watched Emily for a moment. Smiling through my tears I looked back up at Peter and he pulled me into a kiss. Emily’s screaming brought us out of the moment.

 

“It’s okay sweetie. Mommy and daddy are right here. Are you hungry?”

           

I could see she was scooting closer towards my chest and her fingers flexed against my skin. I smiled tiredly down at her. Though I’d had problems myself, Emily came out just perfect. I just felt bad that she’d been born in 18 degree weather and in the snow no less. Peter shut the back door and cranked the heaters up to keep us warm. The next three hours would be a long time before help arrived, but at least we had this little miracle in my arms to be thankful for.

 

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you guys think?


	2. Forgiveness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily.

March 23rd, 2012

"I'm sorry, it wasn't quite clear what you said my daughter had."

The doctor in front of me had a grim look on her face and kept her mask of seriousness.

"We can't explain it, but it starts like the flu virus. But we don't know what it is. There is no known cure for it. I'm sorry."

I wasn't going to take that for an answer. I looked down at the sleeping baby in my arms. She was perfect and yet she had contracted a strange virus in which no one could tell me how to cure it. Peter erupted next to me:

"NO! THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH! You are going to do everything in your power to find a cure for my daughter!"

Peter had overstepped his bounds, and we had to get a second opinion on this... There just had to be another way... With one arm cradling   
Emily I placed my left hand on his forearm.

“Everything’s going to be okay Peter. We’ll get a second opinion on this. Maybe Walter can figure something out.”

Peter seemed to calm a little and he placed a soft kiss on Emily’s forehead. She coughed a little and snuggled closer to me. I had to be strong. For her. We stepped out of Doctor Elker’s office, tired but not defeated. Another doctor that had seen us when we were brought in after three hours of driving to the hospital greeted us. His name was Doctor Erikson. He was a very nice man who took special pride in checking Emily over after she was born. 

“Peter. Olivia. And who could forget Emily? It’s nice to see you again. Though not under the best of circumstances. I heard that Emily has been under the weather. What seems to be the problem?”

I sighed tiredly and shifted Emily a little in my arms to make sure she was comfortable.

“Nobody seems to know what’s wrong with her. Not even Doctor Elker. She started showing signs of being ill out of nowhere a couple of days ago. It started out with this high fever, which went away after an hour. Then the coughing spells came. She hasn’t been able to stop since.”

Doctor Erikson led us towards an exam room and as soon as we entered he took Emily from my arms. She began to fuss and cough more, making her tiny face all red. Doctor Erikson did his best to comfort her. 

“There, there little one. Let’s see what’s going on with your lungs shall we?”

I held onto Peter’s hand tightly as Doctor Erikson continued his exam on Emily. She screamed at the top of her lungs and continued coughing. I felt tears on the brink of flowing down my face, but I held them back. Peter gave my hand a quick squeeze. When Doctor Erikson put the stethoscope behind his neck again, he asked me some questions.

“Has Emily’s appetite changed any? Your breastfeeding aren’t you?

I nodded my head and looked at Emily, whose face was still completely red from screaming and coughing so much. 

“Yes I am. She still eats, but not as much as I’d like her to. This morning she only suckled for about five minutes and then started coughing and screaming her head off. At first I thought it had just gone down the wrong way, but when I tried to help guide her back so she could eat again, she only screamed louder.”

Doctor Erikson wrote that down on her chart and closed the manila envelope. He gently placed Emily back into my arms, who was still screaming her head off. I rocked her and she seemed to calm considerably. Now she had hiccups. I gently kept patting her back to help calm her down. 

“If you two would follow me I’ll take you down to the lab and we’ll run a couple of tests. We’ll take some blood from her first, to make sure what we’re dealing with here. I’m hoping that it’s either the flu or the common cold that she’s got. But it could be anything really. One more last question Olivia; when you were pregnant with her, did you come down with anything? The flu or a cold? She could’ve gotten something that was passed from you. But I don’t want to rule anything out here. Not until we’re absolutely sure.”

Peter and I both nodded our heads. Doctor Erikson led us into the lab and Peter held onto Emily’s leg while a nurse took a little pin-prick of blood from her foot. She screamed and coughed some more, but calmed when Peter took her into his arms. She kicked her little legs in defiance, as if she wanted to push everybody away and leave her alone. Peter spoke to try and console her cries of discomfort.

“Hey, there there Em. It’s okay. Daddy’s right here. We won’t let anything happen to you. We’ll make you all better okay?”

I smiled at Peter. He’d become an even better man after Emily was born. He’d become even braver too, all because he’d delivered her himself. The doctor’s here at Boston General said they were surprised that Emily had turned out as well as she did. I was not surprised. Peter had made sure he was doing everything he could for her. He held a cotton ball against her left foot, and we were directed to a row of chairs just outside the lab. He rocked her a little and she eventually she fell asleep. I hadn’t realized it, but I’d fallen asleep too. I only woke because Peter had shook my shoulder. 

“Hey Liv, Doctor Erikson’s here. He wants to talk about what he found.”

I quickly sat up and wiped the sleep from my eyes. Doctor Erikson sat in the unoccupied chair next to mine and began his findings.

“Well, Emily’s blood test came back. It seems she has something similar to Scarlet Fever. But it isn’t Scarlet Fever. We’ve run several tests on the sample. It has several strains that are similar, but on the other hand have enzymes we’ve never seen before. I think we’re dealing with an unknown virus here. But don’t take my word for it. Feel free to seek as many opinions as you’d like. We need to get to the bottom of this. I’m just laying down what I think this is. 

Get a third opinion from someone else. Another doctor perhaps. Maybe they’ll be able to pick up something we could not. In the meantime, we’ll continue to run tests against another sample of blood we had stored from the umbilical cord stump taken three weeks ago. Maybe that’ll amount to something. For now, I suggest she gets lots and lots of rest. Plenty of fluids, and if you think it’s wise, bottle feed her for awhile. See if that has any kind of affect on her appetite.”

Well at least we were somewhere. But we still weren’t to the bottom of what Emily had. She could have anything. And I think that’s what made me sad and angry at the same time. I watched as she stretched in Peter’s arms for a moment and snuggle close to him. Her face was still very flushed. We’d find a way for her to get better. It would just take time and it might take several doctors and opinions. Which would cost us thousands of dollars. I don’t know how we’re going to cover all of this. We should at least speak to Walter, see what he say’s about all this. I’m sure he can come up with something to help her. In the meantime at least until we can figure out just what the hell this is.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So what’d you guys think?


	3. Walter's findings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily.

March 25th, 2012

The screaming baby in my arms that was my daughter did not cease no matter what I did to try and soothe her. I tried to feed her a bottle, she turns her head away. I tried to go back to breastfeeding her, and she only buries her head in my side crying. I changed her diaper, tried rocking her, giving her a pacifier, but none of these things worked. She was uncomfortable and I knew it, I just didn’t know what to do for her.

“Walter have you found anything with the blood sample?”

Walter shaking his head took Emily’s screaming form from my arms and she momentarily stopped screaming and crying. The only thing that could be heard now was her constant coughing. Her face was as red as a tomato! I couldn’t stand all this waiting and doing nothing. Emily was losing precious time and there was only so long she could fight this. I turned away at the thought. 

“Nothing that those other doctors didn’t already find. She’s a tad bit congested so I’ll give her a decongestant to help clear her lungs a little.”

I nodded my head seriously and then I felt Peter’s hand on my shoulder. Her squeezed it comfortingly and then kissed it gently. He eye Walter for a moment.

“Walter, this is safe for her to take right?”

Walter was taken aback by Peter’s questioning. I watched as he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Walter’s answer.

“Quite safe son. I would never give a child untested drugs.”

Peter only glared at Walter and looked towards me. I kept my eyes on Emily whose coughing spells were dissipating somewhat, but not completely. Peter about blew up at Walter, who cradled his grandchild lovingly.

“And you think it was right to give Olivia untested drugs and experiment on her as a child? What is wrong with you?”

Walter shook his head no and looked down at the still coughing Emily. She opened up her eyes and stared right at Walter. I crossed my arms and rested them over my still-too-large baby belly. 

“Okay boys, do I have to separate the two of you? This isn’t the time for petty fights. Emily’s health is on the line and I’d really like to get to the bottom of this.”

Both Peter and Walter looked at me and then looked down at the floor. I’d forgiven Walter for what’d he’d done to me, and it was a long time ago. I was letting the past be past. I saw Peter rub a hand over his tired five o’clock shadow face. 

“You’re right Liv, I’m sorry. Emily is our top priority. Her health is on the line. What have you got for us Walter?”

Walter placed Emily into Peter's arms and clapped his hands together once and went over and grabbed an eyedropper from a glass beaker. It was full of red liquid.

“Don't worry son, it's just liquid Tylenol. It should help with the congestion she's having. And you've said that the antibiotics her doctor's have given her have had no effect whatsoever?”

Peter and I only shook our heads and looked down at Emily who had stuck her fist into her mouth and was sucking on it. She was tired and she was hungry. Either way, if she took the Tylenol at least I could get her to eat, and she'd go to sleep easier than she has been the last few days.

“No, we gave them to her but she keeps coughing. She eats, but not much. Look into that baby’s eyes, the light is starting to disappear from them. This isn’t the same bright-eyed baby I helped bring into the world.”

Peter’s last sentence sent my world crashing down on me and I felt as if the oxygen in the room had been sucked out. I excused myself and went to our bedroom and barricaded myself in. Once in there, I let out long and wracking sobs. I’d been holding them in for such a long time. I lie down on the bed and cried so hard I didn’t think I could stop. I heard a light knock on the bedroom door.

“Olivia its Walter. Are you alright dear?”

I ignored Walter and continued to cry. His footsteps eventually retreated down the hallway and I heard his bedroom door shut. I buried my head in my pillow even when I heard Peter come in. 

“Liv everything’s going to be alright. Emily will get better. We won’t stop getting opinions until we’ve found a cure for whatever she has. I’m thinking a couple more weeks and then we head south. There are some really good doctor’s in Mexico that may be able to help her. But I don’t want to force this on you, I want you to decide if you want to do this or not. Emily deserves our love more than ever right now. She needs our strength to continue living.”

I unburied my head from my pillow and looked up at Peter with puffy red eyes. Emily was fussy, but at least she wasn’t crying as much anymore. He placed her into my arms and I let a few stray tears fall down my face, and then placed two soft kisses on her forehead. She squirmed and opened up her eyes.

“Mommy will make sure you are all better. Did grandpa give you that medicine? You’re getting a little blinky. Let’s get some food first and then we can go to sleep okay?”

Emily only cooed at me as I sat down on the bed with her. Peter joined me and stroked her little fingers as she ate. Tomorrow would begin all over again, with opinions and diagnosis of things doctor’s thought Emily might have. But no one knew for sure, and that’s what broke my heart. 

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you think?


	4. A little ray of hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily.

March 29th, 2012

Emily’s coughing never seemed to cease, not even when she was asleep at night. It broke my heart to see such a tiny body being wracked with coughing spells of an unknown virus. I watched her from the bed; she was in a fitful sleep. I picked her up and carefully supported her head, and I rubbed her back a little and she began to fuss at first. Her fussing became louder and I tried to quiet her because Peter was still sleeping. 

“Shh, it’s okay Emily. We don’t want to wake daddy.”

She squirmed in my arms and whined more. Peter shot up next to me and looked almost wild-eyed for a moment. He seemed afraid of something. Realization dawned on him and he pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead with his eyes closed. He gently stroked Emily’s nose with his index finger. I searched his eyes for a moment to try and figure out why he was so afraid.

“Peter what is it? What’s wrong? Baby your shaking, what is it?”

With one arm firmly around Emily’s body supporting her head, I ran my other free hand through his messy brown hair. 

“It's nothing. Just a stupid nightmare. It'll never amount to anything. We were walking around inside La Basilica de Guadalupe. The church was built in her honor you know. We were getting Emily baptized because she'd gotten that much worse and then there was a strong explosion, and everything went black. I didn't see anything after that. You don't know how much that scares me Liv. What if that really happens?”

I didn't want that to happen. He'd just have to trust me. That wouldn't happen. I'd make sure it was safe. I'm a trained FBI agent after all, and being safe was my top priority.

“It won’t happen Peter. I’ll make sure it’s safe. I’m and FBI agent remember? Being safe is my number one priority. Just try and go back to sleep okay?”

Emily had fallen back asleep again, and her coughing fits seemed to stop. For now at least. I placed her back in her basinet next to the bed. She squirmed a little, but then snuggled and fell back asleep again. I lie down on my pillow and Peter placed his head on top of my chest. He still seemed very worried. I waited until he closed his eyes and then I followed suit. Sleep fell over me like a blanket over my eyes. When I woke again, it wasn’t because Emily was coughing; it was because it was eerily quiet. There was something wrong. I cautiously got out of bed and tucked a piece of stray hair behind my right ear and looked into the basinet. Emily was awfully still, and her coloring was strange. I gently took her up in my arms and stroked her face with my index finger. Nothing. Inside I was shaking like a leaf, but I kept strong, for Emily and Peter’s sake. 

 

“Come on baby girl, please wake up. Let mommy know your okay. Please?”

I felt like I was begging. I felt Peter’s hand on my shoulder and I nearly jumped. Tears were running down my face in waterfalls. I watched as Emily took a big breath in and start crying. The coughing start again, which didn’t bother me at the moment, at least I knew that she was breathing. 

“What’s wrong Liv?”

I shook my head and felt like I was placing thousands of soft kisses on top of Emily’s forehead. She was alright. Well as alright as she could be anyways. I put my hand up to the back of her forehead.

“Oh my god Peter, she’s burning up! Get your father in here now!”

Peter shoved his robe on and nearly ran out of the room. I rocked Emily back and forth, her face as red as a tomato again from crying and coughing so much. He came back with Walter a few minutes later, which felt like ten years. Walter took my screaming child from my arms and looked her over carefully. 

“Olivia, this child is running a fever! We must get her temperature down quickly!”

Peter and I quickly rushed after Walter who was already half-way to his room. I was nervous about what he was going to give her this time. We both watched him as he took a thermometer out. Shaking my head, I knew what was going to happen now. Peter could only look at his father.

Both of us now shaking our heads we let Walter take Emily’s temperature. When he looked at it again, his eyes widened in fear. 

“There isn’t anything more I can do for Emily now. She needs to be in the hospital. Her temperature has reached 101. She needs to be cooled.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walter had gone off to the snack machine with a dollar Peter had given him. We’d been sitting in the waiting room for hours for news of how Emily was doing. Peter and I both held our breath as Doctor Erikson came up to us. We both stood up.

“We’ve managed to get the fever down, and she’s taking plenty of fluids in. But that’s the best we can do for her right now. Emily needs to be seen by a specialist. Someone who can try and pinpoint what she has. We’ve exhausted all our resources here at Boston General. But you can feel free to seek more opinions as I’ve said before. Since we can’t do anything more for Emily’s condition, we’ll have to send her home.”

Peter and I both hid our outrage as a nurse came out with Emily who was wrapped in a pink blanket. She carefully and gently placed Emily into Peter’s arm. He placed several soft kisses on her forehead. Walter came back with a moon pie and was scarfing it down. It was just after sunrise. Our best hope now was Mexico. Peter momentarily looked at me in the rearview mirror as I buckled Emily into her car seat.

“You know, Doctor Erikson has some nerve Liv. Sending her home because her fever went away. It might come back again. When we get home, we’re packing. Walter I’m going to have Astrid stay with you while we’re gone. We’ll fly you down on weekends. Mexico City is where we have to go Liv. It’s the only place I can think of with the best doctor’s to treat her. Their our last hope and our only other choice.”

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you think?


	5. Chapter 5: A new city and a new set of ‘second’ opinions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily and Doctor Sanchez.

March 31st, 2012

Mexico City, Mexico (Federal District)

Benito Juarez International airport

“Peter, where exactly is this hospital we’re supposed to go to?”

The dark circles under his eyes and the bags made me realize how much sleep he was losing. As he picked up our suitcases he answered my question:

"We'll have to get to Zona Rosa. The Rose Zone. That's in the center of the city. The name of the hospital is Saint Rose's heart. The doctor that's seeing Emily is an ears , eyes and throat specialist named Doctor Romero Sanchez. He'll be able to help Emily."

I nodded my head seriously and looked down at the sleeping form of Emily in my arms. She stretched and snuggled closely to me. The intercom overhead sounded once more:

"Bienvenidos al aeropuerto internacional Benito Juarez de la ciudad de Mexico."

(Welcome to Benito Juarez International airport. Mexico City) 

Now we'd have to find a taxi to Zona Rosa. Now we had a little hope, and finding a cure for what Emily had was well worth the fight. We’d managed to get through customs easily enough and we now made our way outside the terminal to call for a taxi. At least it was raining outside. This would make all the dirt and pollution in the air wash away. Sticking his hand out, Peter hailed a cab:

“Taxi!”

As a taxi pulled up to the curb, I carefully cradled Emily in my arms and stepped into the car when Peter opened it for me. Joining me in the back of the cab after he’d placed our suitcases in the trunk he shut the door and gave the driver directions.

“Samil Plaza Hotel por favor.”

The cab driver nodded his head and began to drive. Looking down at Emily every now and then, making sure she was alright, other than her constant coughing, I allowed myself to view the city. There were people everywhere despite the fact that it was pouring outside. Different colors all seemed to blend together, people selling things at market stands that displayed purples, reds, and oranges, school-children running here and there to get out of the rain in muted reds and greens, and a homeless woman in a bright green dress panhandling for money. Giving Peter a sideways glance, he smiled at me warmly. 

“Everything’s going to be alright now Liv. I know we’ve made the right choice coming here.” 

Supporting Emily’s head I placed her against my shoulder and patted her back a little to calm her coughing spell. She only coughed more and began to cry again. Her face was turning bright red and she wouldn’t stop crying. When I had her nestled in my arms again I rocked her a little, hoping that it would put her to sleep. But those were her hungry cries. She’d have to be fed as soon as we got to the hotel. I could see the driver was more than annoyed, but he was doing his best to ignore it. Peter ran a finger over Emily’s usually marble white cheeks and she seemed to calm a little. Her crying came to a halt and she began to whine instead. Peter ran his finger down her nose and she squirmed even more, and was kicking her legs furiously. 

Entering the parking garage, the cab pulled to a stop at the front entrance. It was dim in here, but we could still see. Peter opened up the door for me to climb out. The driver then opened up the trunk and Peter lugged out our suitcases. 

“Cinco Cincuenta pesos.” (Five-fifty pesos.)

That was the equivalent of fifty-five cents in the United States. I smiled at the cab driver as he drove away, he only frowned as he pulled out of the parking garage and back out onto the busy streets that were Mexico City. We made our way into the lobby and up to the front desk. She smiled cheerily at us and greeted:

“¡Hola! ¿Cómo le puedo ayudar usted?

(Hello! How may I help you?)

Peter and I both smiled at the woman in front of us. She seemed friendly enough compared to the cab driver that just dropped us off. Emily was whiny still, but she was getting a little blinky.

“Reservaciones de Peter Bishop.”

(Reservations for Peter Bishop)

The woman in the starched blue uniform looked up Peter’s name and beamed nodding her head. Her nametag read Mariana. Grabbing a card-key from the drawer behind the desk, she handed it to him saying:

“Uno Reservación de Peter Bishop. Su cuarto es número: cuatro-cero-cinco. Está en el cuarto piso.”

(One reservation for Peter Bishop. Your room number is 405. It's on the fourth floor.)

Peter and I gave the cheery woman a smile and walked towards the elevators. Emily was much fussier now. I brushed an indexed finger against her flushed cheek. She snuggled closer to me and stayed close all the way up to the fourth floor. When we got to the room, Peter immediately locked the door behind us and placed our bags in the closet. I was exhausted, but we still had to get lunch and Emily needed to be fed. Carefully placing Emily into Peter’s arms, I went over to the sink and washed my hands. Drying them with the towel, I took Emily back in my arms and went over to the bed. Sitting on it, I noticed that the bed was a tad bit hard for my liking but I’d have to do the best with what Peter and I had at the moment. 

Emily squirmed and fussed more. She began to flail and scream at the top of her lungs once more. There was only one way to calm her now, she was calmest when she ate. I carefully unbuttoned my blouse and watched as she began to suckle at my breast. Peter placed himself next to me after closing the curtains over the window. Emily seemed a little better now, until a coughing spell grabbed a hold of her. I quickly took her away from my chest and put her up against my shoulder, supporting her head with one hand, I gently patted her back with the other. Her coughing spell seemed less bothersome as before. They seemed to be coming in spurts every once in awhile. She was screaming again and settled once she was suckling. Her tomato-red face reminded me that she wasn’t well at all. Peter brushed a finger along her nose and she continued eating. 

“We have an appointment with Doctor Sanchez in an hour. When she’s done eating, I’ll go down and see if they have anything to eat in the buffet and I’ll bring you a plate. I’ll have room-service bring up a portable crib for her, for tonight. I have a feeling while we’re here, she’ll be in and out of the hospital a lot.”

Nodding my head and looking down, Emily had fallen fast asleep. I took this as my queue to straighten myself out and button my blouse back up again. I leaned my head up against the headboard and fell asleep myself.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Santa Rosa: Sacred Heart Hospital

“Hola, I’m Doctor Sanchez. You must be Emily’s padres. Excuse me parents. Peter and Olivia Bishop. What is wrong with Emily?”

Peter and I were both surprised that the doctor that Emily was being seen by could speak English so well. 

“We’ve seen at least twelve different doctors back in the states, but they can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong with her, despite all the tests they’ve run. We came here seeking your help. A doctor Erikson referred us to you. He said you were the best when it came to solving unusual viruses.”

Doctor Sanchez gave us a warm smile and led us to an exam room where a nurse was waiting. She took the sleeping form of Emily from my arms and checked her over. Emily was coughing in her sleep again, and the nurse took out a chart and wrote Emily’s name in it, marking down what Emily was going through. She placed Emily into Doctor Sanchez’ arms and he had a look at her himself. She didn’t budge. 

“We’ll take some blood from her and run some tests on it. From what I can tell, she’s a very sick little baby. I’m sorry my city doesn’t offer you the best quality air for your baby. The air has always been dirty, since the creation of factories and cars.”

Peter and I followed the nurse and Doctor Sanchez down to a room that looked like a lab. A nurse pin-pricked Emily’s bare foot and she began to scream and cough. Peter placed a cotton ball on her foot that seemed bigger than it. I rocked her to try and keep her calm. This was the hardest thing ever Peter and I had to face together. A sick child who wasn’t even a month old yet.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Emily had been placed into a heated crib in the PICU. She had a fever, meaning her forehead was on fire, but the rest of her body was freezing. Wires ran in and out of her and an iv line was in her arm. She was asleep and her coughing bouts were silenced for now because of a cough medicine made just for baby’s. It was late, just a little after one in the morning, they’d been running tests all day. Peter had fallen asleep in the chair next to me, his hand still gripping my own. Doctor Sanchez stepped into the room and smiled at Peter and I tiredly. I nudged him and he stirred. 

“The two of you should get some rest. I will call you at your hotel if anything changes in Emily’s condition. I’ve got lots of nurses keeping an eye on her.”

Taking one last longing glance back at Emily, Peter and I made our way out of the room and towards the main entrance to the hospital. When the cab dropped us off at the hotel and we were back in the room, I lie on the bed on top of the covers, curling up in a ball. I was worried about Emily more now, and I had a feeling, that time would tell if things got better for us as a family.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you think?


	6. Chapter 6: Coping and time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily and Doctor Sanchez.

April 30th, 2012

Mexico City: Santa Rosa: Sacred Heart hospital 

Peter and I have been here for a month, and Doctor Sanchez and his team are still no closer to finding out what’s wrong with Emily. Her coughing seems to come and go, but it hasn’t gone away. I sit in a rocking chair in front of her heated crib and reach through the bars with a clean hand; Emily grabs onto my finger and holds onto it. She cooed a little and flexed her fingers against my seemingly large index finger compared to her hand. 

“It’s mama baby girl. But you know that don’t you, by the sound of my voice?”

Peter had gone down to the lobby to get us some coffee. Glancing up at the heart-monitor attached to her, I watched as the green lines went up and down measuring her beats per second. Smiling tiredly at Peter, he handed me my coffee and I took it gratefully.

 

“Black coffee two sugars. I knew you needed something strong. I’d suggest a fifth of Jack Daniels, but heh, your still breastfeeding. Well, would you look at that Liv? She seems to be holding onto your finger pretty tightly with that little hand of hers. She gets her strength from her mother.”

I sighed and took a sip of my steaming coffee. A nurse in a starch white uniform came in. She smiled at the two of us as she took readings from the heart monitor recording Emily’s heartbeat. Emily’s little fingers never let go of my index finger. Peter momentarily set down his coffee cup on the weathered down grainy table next to the heated crib and stuck his hand in, stroking her forehead gently. 

"Hey there sweetie, its daddy. We want nothing more for you than getting better right now, and when you get better I will get you anything you want."

 

I only laughed at Peter a little. The only thing Emily wanted right now was to know that we are there for her and love her. 

"Peter, she's a month old. The only thing she wants is for us to be there for her and love her. Besides, isn't that Walter's job to spoil her?"

 

Now it was Peter's turn to laugh, and he turned his attention back to stroking Emily's forehead with his hand. She took comfort in that and cooed at him. 

"Oh I could just see it now; Walter spoiling her with what he thinks are my favorite candies. Necco wafers. I already know what kind of life she's gonna have, what with us investigating weird and unexplained things. Let's hope that when she gets older, the kids won't be cruel to her."

 

Nodding my head, I looked down to find that by my touch alone, that Emily reacted and was flexing her fingers up against my finger. A smile spread across her face and then she opened up her eyes, they were the most beautiful green I'd ever seen. Much darker than both Peter and I. Almost like emeralds. This would be a long haul, one that would put Peter and I through a lot, and the next step in this phase was about to get ugly. The black and white wires attached to Emily’s chest were larger than her. The smile disappeared from her face and she began to whine at first. Then she let out a scream. 

She was hungry. For the past month I’ve been bottle feeding her. Handing Peter my cup of still hot coffee, I gently picked Emily up from her heated crib and supported her head in the crook of my arm. She flailed even more now, and was coughing up a storm. It broke my heart to hear her to struggle with every breath she took. 

“Easy there baby girl. Relax, take a breath in.”

I wanted to cry, but I was being strong. For her. I felt Peter’s hands on my shoulders, gently massaging them. A nurse handed me an empty glass bottle. For the last month I’ve been using a breast pump to get milk for Emily since they’d advised against me breastfeeding her. Peter took Emily in his arms while I went about getting Emily her food. It was the dullest and slowest process I’ve ever been through. Once the bottle was done filling up and I’d straightened myself out, the nurse took the blanket that was draped over me. 

“Gracias Ana.”

She smiled warmly at me and placed the light yellow blanket into the laundry bin by the door. Peter gently placed Emily back into my arms and as I was about to place the nipple of the bottle up to her lips, she’d squirmed as close as she could to my chest and was grabbing at the fabric of my blouse. She was actually trying to get to her meal through my shirt. I could see her trying to suckle. I pulled her away a little and placed the bottle to her lips and she began to drink from it. She was very hungry. Peter gave her a small smile and stroked her nose with his seemingly large finger. 

She snuggled in my arms and suckled on the bottle more. The heart monitor began to beep wildly and she began to cough up a storm once again, her face turning into a red tomato. I took the bottle away and looked at the nurse worriedly as Emily began to go into convulsive spasms. Her arms and legs jerked every which way and I felt myself beginning to hyperventilate. Ana took Emily from my arms and pressed a call button on the wall. Peter pulled me up from the rocking chair and wrapped his arms around my waist. I took several deep breaths in to try and calm my racing heart. I had to be strong, for Emily. I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. I hadn’t slept in almost a week and the strain was finally getting to me. I roughly shoved Peter’s arms from around my waist.

“YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! SHE’S GOTTEN WORSE SINCE WE GOT HERE! WHY THE HELL DID I EVER AGREE TO THIS?”

But I knew it wasn’t Peter’s fault. There was only one place I knew that would make me feel better. A place Peter had refused to go to because he said he didn’t belong. I went to the shrine of the Patron Saint of Mexico, Virgin of Guadalupe to ask if she could help me out. She’d had a whole church built in honor of her and was completed in 1521. I went there because I found comfort, though I’d stopped believing in god when I was nine. Maybe this would help me believe again. I’d stopped believing in miracles too. But I considered that a different issue. 

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you guys think?


	7. Miracle roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily and Doctor Sanchez.

May 2nd, 2012

Mexico City: La Basílica de Guadalupe

Walter had insisted that he come with me on my excursion to the church. There were times I felt I couldn’t stay in that hospital, though I hated leaving Emily, Doctor Sanchez said that leaving her for a little while would help clear my mind of some things. I was lighting a candle for Emily to get better. Though I doubted that there was even a heaven or a god. I’d believed once upon a time, when I was a little girl, but I stopped believing after I shot my stepfather. Seeing my mother’s face all bruised and battered, I knew god couldn’t protect us from cruel people, so I stopped believing in him. He’d forsaken me. 

Walter and I now sat in the front pew in the first row of the grand church. The shrine of La Virgen de Guadalupe encased in thick glass and an ornate and real gold frame at least four inches thick, looked down at us with her kind but piercing eyes. Protector of women and helper of the poor, she was the Patron Saint of Mexico. If Peter and I had been here two months earlier, we’d have seen people participating in the pilgrimage to this very church. Some walk for days from as far as the Southern states of Tabasco and Chiapas, and by the time they get here, or within a mile of here, they are on their hands and knees, begging for mercy. The story of the Patron Saint of Mexico is this:

A poor man by the name of Juan Diego began seeing visions of the Virgin Mary as he prayed for his uncle’s recovery from illness. He saw her appear to him from a hill high atop the lake. He went down to the local church and told the local Bishop that he’d seen vision of the Virgin Mary or La Virgen de Guadalupe. At first the Bishop saw no such visions. Then one day, while he and Juan Diego were standing on the very hill where she appeared to him, she appeared, surrounded in golden rays of light. After that, construction began of building the temple/shrine in honor of her. Miraculously, where she appeared to Juan Diego, roses grow of their own accord every year. No one plants them. They just grow. 

I wasn’t quite sure if I believed the story or not. I turned to Walter who seemed to be staring at me. 

“Agent Dunham, your cheeks are flushed and you look as if you are about to cry.”

Was my face that obvious? I took a deep breath to try and will the feeling away. Though I didn’t believe in god anymore, I felt some sort of peace every time I came here. I can’t explain it. I changed the subject so that I could avoid Walter’s comment:

“You know Walter; I haven’t been in a church since I had my First Communion when I was eight. My mother had dressed me up in white from head-to-toe and I had a white flower headband made with real daisies in them. My mother had never been so proud of me. But then I knew, a year later, no matter how hard I prayed, god had forsaken me and I stopped believing in him.”

Walter gave me a look I couldn’t read and then stood up. I knew he was about to wander off, because that was what Walter did. He tended to wander off. I followed him towards the escalator that lead down towards the chamber where past Bishops and Priests were buried. The hallway was lined with an assortment of different portraits of holy men of the cloth carrying banners of the blessed Virgen de Guadalupe. Behind them they always had faithful followers and ones that were begging for her help. I didn’t know if I believed that either. One thing for sure though was, it was much cooler down here than it was in the main church itself. The concrete kept everything cool. Walter was wandering towards an open door just off to the side of where people gave their confessions and I followed him out into a seemingly large rose garden. 

It was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen! Even Walter was stunned at the sheer beauty of it. The brilliant reds and yellows caught my eye, but what struck me was a lone purple rose bush. There was no such thing as purple roses. I’d taken my camera with me to take pictures while we were down here, even though it wasn’t for fun. Walter noticed I was looking at the purple rosebush and spoke:

“Oh! What a beautiful rosebush Olivia! We must take a photo of us in front of it! You know, there is a story behind this very rosebush. It’s very rare. The only one of its kind. Legend has it that the purple rose can cure almost any illness or disease. I say we take one back for Emily. Maybe it can make her well again!”

I only scoffed at Walter. How could a single rose cure almost any illness or disease a person might have? Walter looked around and took a pair of scissors I didn’t even know he had out of his pocket and cut the smallest rose he could find off. He carefully stuffed it into his pocket once he cut off all the thorns. I turned on my camera and took a picture of him in front of the interesting rosebush, then one of us together. I looked down at my watch: 5:30. We should get going before the traffic got too bad.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Santa Rosa: Sacred Heart Hospital 

The trip back to the hospital had taken us nearly an hour and a half, even though it was only a mile and a half to get there. As soon as I got back up to the PICU with Walter, I quickly went over to the sink and washed my hands. Then I went right over to Emily’s heated crib and reached in once I was sitting in the extra rocking chair Peter had brought for me to sit in. Her tiny little fingers clamped onto my index finger and she cooed while Peter kept stroking her head with his left hand. She found it comforting that we were both here. Walter went chattering away about the strange purple rosebush we’d seen at the church:

“Oh son! Olivia and I saw the most beautiful rosebush. A purple rosebush, the only one of its kind. The legend is that if you take a rose from the rosebush it’ll cure almost any illness or disease a person might have. I took one in the hopes that it would help Emily get well again.”

I scoffed once more at Walter; this seemed way out there, even for him. Peter kept stroking Emily’s forehead as he tried to reason with his father:

“Walter don’t you think that’s kind of farfetched? Even for you? I mean we investigate strange things every day, but I don’t believe for one second that god has something to do with this. He doesn’t exist.”

I let them argue it out while I watched Emily yawn and fall asleep again. Her small fingers flexed against my index finger and she sucked on the pacifier in her mouth, though it was very large. 

“Son, I’ve made my peace with him. Sometimes I may doubt him, but I do know that he’s there, he knows everything we do. He listens too. Your child’s life and my granddaughter’s life is at stake here Peter. Having a little faith here isn’t such a bad thing.”

Peter only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Emily stroking her forehead. She’d get better, it just might be a little longer than we’d hoped.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you guys think?


	8. Visible wings and strange dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own Emily and Doctor Sanchez.

May 5th, 2012

Roses. There were roses everywhere. The smell assaulted my nose and penetrated my soul. Everything around me was so bright. I heard a baby cooing somewhere. It sounded a lot like Emily. I frantically began searching for her. A woman’s voice, soft in tone startled me.

“Beautiful little angel, your mother is coming very soon.”

I found myself walking up a carefully laid stone path and atop the hill was a woman glowing in a bright golden light holding a very content Emily. She smiled and told me to come closer.

“Don’t be afraid, come child.”

Why did this woman look so familiar? Where have I seen her before? Emily fussed a little in the woman’s arms. I felt strangely calm around her, not the slight bit nervous. 

“Who are you? Have we met somewhere before?”

The woman in the bright golden light surrounding her laughed light-heartedly at me and gave me a soft smile. 

“You have seen me seen me every day for the past month and yet you do not remember who I am? Here's a clue, protector of women, children and the poor. Does that ring a bell to who I am?”

Shaking my head no I looked at Emily who was fast asleep in the strange but gentle woman's arms. I couldn't put my finger on who she was. 

“No, I'm sorry that doesn't ring a bell to me. Another hint might help.” 

Her gentle smile never left her flawless tanned face. Nodding her head she spoke once more:

“These roses grow because of me. Last week you took a purple rose from the purple rosebush just behind me. Miracle roses. Milagros. I go by many names but most people call me Madre Milagrosa. Mother Miracle. Am I getting closer to helping you remember who I am?”

I was still confused on who she was, looking around at the bright roses, all different shades and hues, I realized who she was.

“Virgen de Guadalupe. But why visit me?”

Her eyes lit up, but sadness lie deep within them. She looked down at Emily in her arms and smiled at her, handing her to me. I gratefully took her into my arms and kissed her forehead. I looked back up at her as she adjusted her brilliant green cloak with the golden stars attached around her neck. The cloak was covering most of her hair so I couldn’t see it. We walked down the stone path from the top of the hill and the tan woman explained to me what I’d been afraid to confront:

“I comfort many people in the time of their greatest need. I visit you because along the way you seemed to have stopped believing in my son. He’s always watching over you, even though you don’t believe in him. I was there comforting you when you were giving birth to your daughter. I would’ve taken your pain away from you, but it doesn’t work that way. Emily is running out of time Olivia, go back to Templo Tepayac and pick three or four more purple roses. Place them in a vase next to where this little angel sleeps, and something will begin to happen. I cannot tell you what it is. Watch for signs.”

I looked down at Emily momentarily and caressed her tiny cheek with my index finger, making her snuggle against my chest. Smiling I looked up to question the woman:

“What signs?”

By the time I’d asked that question she’d already disappeared. Now I was all alone in the beautifully bright rose garden with a sleeping Emily in my arms. I yelled at the sky:

“What signs am I looking for! Can’t you at least give me some kind of hint!”

A mist seemed to form up on the hill and now I couldn’t see a thing. I shot up in bed and looked around the dark hotel room. I pulled the sheets closer around myself and lie back down again. I turned my head towards Peter and I found him staring straight into my eyes with silent worry written on his face. I scooted closer to him and lie my head on top of his bare chest and sighed, this was where I wanted to be. He made me feel safe. I found him kissing my shoulder and then he asked me what was wrong:

“Do you want to talk about it Liv? The dream?”

I slowly looked back up into his eyes and nodded my head yes. Most times when I dreamed I’d let it go and not think a thing about it, but this time I couldn’t just let it go. It was about Emily and I had to get it out in the open. 

“I was in the most beautiful rose garden I’d ever seen Peter. All different kinds of roses that were different shades of reds and yellows and pinks and the sky seemed so bright. Emily was making noise and I didn’t know where she was at first, and I frantically began looking for her. I found her in the arms of a tan-faced woman radiating golden rays of light off her and around her was the brightest green cape I’d ever seen and it had deep gold stars on them. I didn’t remember this until now, but she was wearing a small crown of baby rosebuds on her head. Virgen de Guadalupe. Peter she appeared to me in my dream claiming she wanted to help me. She said she’d been watching over me since I gave birth to Emily. She said to pick three or four more of those purple roses from Templo Tepayac and bring them back to Emily, place them into a vase and something will happen to Emily. She said to wait for signs, but didn’t tell me what kind of signs.”

I placed a hand on Peter’s warm bare chest and kept it there. His eyes clouded over when I looked into them and he looked a little freaked out.

“...Liv I just had that same dream, only it was me looking for Emily. You know I don’t believe in this sort of stuff.”

I pushed the covers back on the bed and sat up, once I was standing I went over to the table by the tv and picked up my camera. Turning it on, I walked back over to the bed with it and sat down, showing Peter the picture of Walter I took of him in front of the purple rosebush. 

“Do you see these just above Walter’s head Peter? They look like giant wings. But they’re see- through. You can kind of see a face here too, but it isn’t exactly clear. There are wings on the other side of him too. And you can just barely make out a face on this one too. Peter I think these are angels. Look at the picture I took of me and Walter in front of the rosebush, there they are again. What do you think this means Peter?”

Peter scoffed and looked at me, not completely convinced. Though I wasn’t completely sure I believed again yet, I believed a little more than I did when we arrived here.

“You know I think people are free to believe in whatever they choose Liv. You included, but please don’t drag me into this, you know I don’t believe in god or that there is a heaven or hell.”

Shaking my head I got off the bed once more and placed my camera back onto the table by the tv and climbed back into bed with my loving but at the moment brooding husband. I lie my head back onto his bare chest and gave deep sigh. 

“But can’t you at least consider the possibility Peter. Keep your mind open. Remember? We see strange and unexplainable things everyday. This should be no different.”

Peter kissed my forehead in deep thought for a moment. Then he looked at me seriously:

“I'll believe it when I see her appear to me. Right now I have my doubts.”

Now it was my turn to brood. I pulled the sheets back over my and closed my eyes, even though I was unable to sleep. I couldn’t make Peter believe in anything he didn’t want to. He’d have to come to believe on his own.

To Be Continued...

A/N: So, what’d you guys think?


	9. Face of an Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 10th, 2012

 

It’s been a week since I’d had that dream with the tanned faced woman who called herself Virgen de Guadalupe. I’d placed the purple roses in the vase just like she’d said that I should do next to Emily’s heated crib, and she’s shown signs of improvement. Her heart rate has returned to normal and her fever has gone away. Her coughing still comes sporadically though, and her temperature of her skin is still ice cold. I had her wrapped in a blanket as I fed her. She’d taken to the bottle easily, but she prefers the natural way better. Quietly I smiled at her and watched her flex her fingers against my semi-bare chest. Her eyes were getting blinky and her fingers were flexing less, but she kept her eyes on me. I whispered endearments to her:

 

“You like it when you get your meal from mommy instead of that mean old bottle don’t you?”

 

A smile spread across her face as she listened to my voice. Peter’s hand reached out and stroked Emily’s head gently. 

 

“She’s doing better today. Maybe the treatments are working.”

 

I knew it was the roses. It was the purple roses that I’d taken from Virgen de Guadalupe’s rose garden. I smiled down at Emily once more and nuzzled her head with my cheek. She cooed and snuggled closer to me and continued eating. This was the way I wanted it to be, for her to be perfectly healthy. 

 

“Peter, I really think we should baptize her. I know you don’t believe in the whole church thing, but I want her to be baptized. Face it Peter, this whole thing has us on edge, and the doctors say they don’t know how much time she’s got since they’ve never seen anything like this before. Look at her Peter; she’s content right now, but what about tomorrow? She could get worse by tomorrow.”

 

Peter opened up his mouth as if to protest, holding up his index finger but then closed his mouth and nodded his head in agreement. I gently tried to pull Emily away from me but she started to cry. Her face grew as red as a tomato as she began to scream at the top of her lungs. So I carefully guided her back towards me and watched her begin to suckle again. Her sparkling emerald eyes were getting blinky once more and her fingers were starting to flex a little less against my bare skin. Soon she was fast asleep and I guided her away from me and placed her into Peter’s arms, careful not to get tangled in the iv line attached to her. Straightening myself out, I looked at Peter and smiled at the two as they bonded with each other.

 

“Daddy is so happy you’re doing better. I know I promised you this before but, I’m going to get you anything you want. Even though you can’t even talk yet.”

 

Doctor Sanchez came into the room, a slight smile on his face. Emily’s chart in hand he flipped it open to the next page and looked over a few notes he’d taken as he took a seat in a stool between Peter and I. 

 

“Emily seems to be doing better today. Her breathing seems to be coming in regular and at a steady pace and her heart rate is normal. The iv keeping her hydrated must be working its magic. The only thing that still concerns me is that her body temperature isn’t back to normal. She’s still cold when you touch her.”

 

Peter and I looked into Doctor Sanchez’ eyes with hope. I gave him a tearful glance but held my tears back and spoke:

 

“Do you think it would be alright if Peter and I took Emily up to the church to get baptized? I want to do it, since we don’t know how much time Emily has. Is it safe to move her?”

 

Doctor Sanchez shook his head no sadly. 

 

“I’m afraid since Emily’s condition is unpredictable, she cannot be moved in anything but an ambulance right now. I’m sorry. But I can arrange for a priest to come here if you’d like?”

 

I nodded my head and placed a small kiss on the crown of Emily’s head. Peter gently set Emily back into her heated crib and took the red blanket from around her body. She only rubbed her eyes with her little hands and yawned. As soon as the nurse went out of the room Peter began to object:

 

“Liv, you want a priest to come here and baptize Emily? You can’t be serious. Like a baby needs their soul cleansed. She’s perfectly innocent, she has no faults...”

 

I was glad when Walter stepped into the room, even though he had nothing but a frown to give us. 

 

“I’m surprised at you son. When you were a boy you believed. Your mother and I would even take you to church every Sunday. You had even started taking classes to become an altar boy. Do you remember Peter?”

 

I hid a smile and returned my attention to Emily who was sleeping soundly for once in her heated crib. Peter? An altar boy? Of all things, I did not expect him to be that! I swallowed and stroked Emily’s face with my index and middle finger. She fidgeted a bit and then went back to sleep again. 

 

“Well when you lose someone close to you, you start to doubt things. You of all people should know that Walter. I stopped believing when mom passed away...”

 

So that’s when Peter had stopped believing in god? He’d told me about his mother committing suicide, but this explains it. I won’t push him anymore with the subject. I’ll let him come of his own accord. It’d been a few minutes since Doctor Sanchez went out of the room to check on another patient, and he entered the room once more:

 

“Padre Fernandez will be here in twenty minutes.”

 

I smiled and reached into Emily’s heated crib and picked her up. She’d be wearing the same dress my mother had dressed me in when I was baptized more than twenty years ago. I went over to the counter top and placed Emily down carefully on it. Peter handed me Emily’s bag of clothes and I found just what I was looking for. I gently pulled the dress over Emily’s head and admired its simple quality. My mother had made it just for me for this very occasion. She had also made a bonnet and little booties to match it. My mother had been a simple woman who left this world too soon. But that’s a different story. Emily squirmed as I put her booties on her feet, then I put the bonnet on her head and she cooed at me. Peter laughed at Emily’s outfit.

 

“Liv! You’re dressing her like they did in the 1800’s! Where did you get that?”

 

I was a little hurt by the way Peter made his jokes. I took a few deep breaths and straightened out every inch of her outfit. 

 

“It was mine. My mother made it for me when I was a baby. It’s very special to me. My mother gave it to me in the hopes I’d give her grandchildren one day.”

 

Peter immediately wiped the smile off his face when he saw I was about to burst into tears. He placed his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. When we broke for air he apologized:

 

“Liv I’m sorry. I didn’t know your mother made it. That was very insensitive of me. It looks beautiful on her.”

 

A shy smile played on my lips for some reason. The priest came into the room just as Peter and I looked down at Emily. She was smiling and gurgling at the same time. Emily was a happy baby for the most part, but with her being sick, she’s been very uncomfortable. I knew my mother was smiling from somewhere. The priest shook hands with Peter and Walter and nodded his head at me. I quickly took Emily’s bonnet off her head and the priest spread a small amount of holy oil on her forehead in the shape of a cross. Then he took a small wooden bowl out and had Walter hold it while Peter and I shielded Emily’s eyes from the holy water being dumped on her head. She let out a scream as the priest said her name:

 

“I baptize thee Emilia Rosa, in the name of the father, son and the holy spirit. Amen.”

 

Padre Fernandez gave us a smile and then down at Emily who was fussing but wasn’t screaming anymore in my arms. Then he took his bowl and poured out the excess water and dried it with a towel. Peter and I were carefully drying Emily’s head and she seemed more content now. Before the priest left the room he spoke:

 

“Your daughter will be well again. But it will take some time.”

 

Peter and I could only look at each other with confused looks. I placed Emily’s bonnet back onto her head and she cooed and gurgled at me, a smile on her face. Then it hit me, something didn’t smell right. *Phwew!* Somebody needs a diaper change! I took Emily over to the changing table and asked Peter for a diaper from her bag. He handed it to me and watched as I opened up the soiled one on her. 

 

“Emily you are stinky. Look at all this poop! But you have a good appetite so I’m not worried about that. Peter look at this, should this be black?”

 

Peter shook his head no and looked at Walter. Walter looked at us with worry on his face and explained what he was thinking:

 

“Black stool indicates some sort of intestinal flu or virus. Hmm... Her doctor’s should run some more tests to figure this out.”

 

Peter and I nodded our heads though we were equally frustrated. 

 

“Walter, Emily has had hundreds of tests done on her. This is getting ridiculous. Someone has to know what’s going on with her. We’re running out of money and we can’t stay here forever.”

 

Things felt like they were spiraling out of control, and what was about to happen next would create a rift between Peter and I, one that would only mend with time and finding peace with whatever demons of the past we were afraid to face.

 

To Be Continued...


	10. Mother and Daughter bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 12th, 2012

 

The sobbing of Mrs. Gonzalez struck a painful chord in me. She and her husband, Federico Gonzalez had a baby boy much tinier than Emily in the heated crib next to hers. He’d been here for much longer than Emily has. I turned my attention to Emily who I was   
currently trying to get ready for her bath. She squirmed and gurgled at me. I did my best to ignore Mrs. Gonzalez pleas to the doctor who was taking her son Jorge with him. He'd passed away from the stomach flu. He could've been cured if he'd been here two weeks earlier. He's been here since January 26th. 

 

“No! NO! Por favor! No mi hijo! No me salgas hijo!”

 

(Please! Don't leave me son! Please don't leave me son!)

 

Her words were painful to listen to, and it made me realize how important it was to spend as much time with Emily as possible, because time was precious and it shouldn't be wasted. Mrs. Gonzalez was a heap on the floor now, sobbing and carrying on. A lump formed in my throat and suddenly I saw myself there. I hoped that I wouldn't have to come to that, with Peter standing over me. Emily would get better, and she'd live a full life, with more brothers and sisters to share it with. Mr. Gonzalez helped Claudia up and escorted her out of the room, equally broken, but trying very hard to keep strong. Taking a deep breath, I set Emily into the plastic tub filled with warm water that had been boiled on a hot stove to make it clean. It’d been sitting in the brown plastic tub for at least forty-five minutes. Emily began to splash her little arms in discontent. She didn’t like the water. I had made sure the water wasn’t hot when I put her in. She just didn’t like getting wet. Contrary to other baby’s who liked water. But she’s still very little. I put a hand on her chest and rubbed it a little, she seemed to calm by my touch. I took the bottle of baby shampoo from Emily’s bag and poured a little onto the washcloth in my hand. Lathering it, I rubbed the shampoo onto her head and she began to fuss. She didn’t like baths. Her arms were flailing and I was doing the best I could to keep her calm. She managed to grab a hold of Peter’s index finger and didn’t let go. 

 

“It’s okay Em, you’re alright. Mommy won’t let the water hurt you. See? The water won’t hurt you. You’ve got daddy’s finger.”

 

Peter chucked at me and then stroked her forehead with his other free hand. She calmed by his touch as well. 

 

“She’s got a really strong grip Liv. She’s going to grow up and be strong just like her mommy.”

 

I gave Peter a small smile and continued washing Emily’s body. She squirmed and flailed some more, her face red now from screaming. I rinsed the soap from her body and Peter helped me dry her off once I got her out of the tub. She was happier now, and was grabbing at the fabric of my white cotton blouse. It seems like every couple of hours she wants to be fed. She is two months old after all and she eats a lot. The first few months are to help mother and child bond through touch and sound. Emily gave a big yawn in the shape of an ‘O’ and shook her fist angrily at me. Her little fingers continuing to grab at my shirt, and at one point she had succeeded in latching onto me through my clothes. That’s uncomfortable. I quickly stuck my index finger in her mouth to make her let go. She whined and then quickly latched on again. I tried the same technique again and this time ever so gently handed her over to Peter. She began to whine even more. It wouldn’t be long before she’d start screaming again. The nurse had allowed Peter and I to take Emily into a room so that I could nurse her privately. The room was right next door to the PICU so if anything happened, they knew right where we were. Peter and I made our way to the room next door. Once in there, we shut the door and I sat down in the rocking chair. Peter waited until I’d unbuttoned my shirt. Emily was crying again, and at any moment she’d start screaming her head off. I’ve got to switch again. Better to switch between breasts instead of just using one all the time. Emily doesn’t like feeding from the right, but gotta keep things evenly distributed. Peter carefully placed Emily into my arms and I helped guide her towards my breast and she latched on so quickly I hardly had time to react. 

 

“Take it easy there Em. The milk’s not going anywhere. Take your time sweetheart.”

 

Emily had a big appetite before, but since she’s been better the last few days, her eating habits have become almost ravenous. Her little gums sometimes hurt. I had her wrapped up in the dark red blanket. The one that had been in her heated crib. Her little fingers as cold as they were, were also making me cold as well. I shivered a little but focused my attention on the eating Emily. She gave me a smile and butted her head up against me so that she could get more milk. I winced and watched as she continued eating.

 

“Ouch Em. Be nice to mommy. Relax, I’m not taking any milk away from you.”

 

Emily smiled once more at me and clamped her gums down harder. I bit my lip and did my best not to wince. 

 

“What’d she do Liv?”

 

I looked at Peter and let out a nervous little laugh, shaking my head I gave him my answer.

 

“I hope Emily doesn’t turn into a bully.”

 

Peter turned his head sideways and gave me an amused smile.

 

“Why Liv?”

 

Shaking my head, I traced Emily’s little fingers with my index finger on my left hand and she calmed. 

 

“You didn’t see what she just did. She just butted me with her head because she was trying to get more milk from me and I wasn’t paying attention to her.”

 

Peter only laughed and stroked Emily’s head with his enormous looking hand. 

 

“She’s a feisty little thing isn’t she? Reminds me of her mother. She’ll be just as strong as you are Liv. I’ve never met anyone as strong as you are.”

 

I smiled at him and then once again turned my attention to Emily who was suckling in her sleep. If I moved her away now, she’d start screaming again. My arms were getting tired, and I was falling asleep. The enormous bags under my eyes didn’t help any. Peter didn’t look any better. We’ve already lost a fair amount of sleep over worry for Emily. 

 

“Maybe. But you didn’t spend nine months carrying her. You didn’t feel every ache, every kick she gave me. You try going into labor, having your water break and pushing something out the size of a grapefruit. The pain is unbearable. But you already know that. You were there. I should have asked you this before but, that car that was pulled over on the side of the road the day I went into labor with Emily, did the state troopers find any bodies?”

 

Peter shook his head no and looked at me seriously. He stopped for a moment and looked more into my eyes.

 

“Wait a minute Liv, you don’t think that’s the reason why Emily’s sick do you? I mean I helped you give birth. It could’ve very well been something in the air. Oh my god Liv. If it was something in the air, that means you and I could be carriers. This isn’t good at all.”

 

The both of us looked down at Emily with worried expressions. Could Peter and I have passed something to Emily? Or was it something I had inside me all along and I passed it to Emily while she was still inside my womb? I cringed at the thought. If this was the case, Peter and I would need to be seen by a doctor immediately. Though they have no clue what the hell this virus even is.

 

To Be Continued...


	11. Mysteries and Uncertainties

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

Flashback

 

March 2nd, 2012

 

Emily is perfectly healthy from what I can tell so far. It’s me that Peter’s worried about though. I was having difficulty breathing but I was brushing it off as nothing. His concerned green eyes bore into my own.

 

“Liv you’re not doing so well. You alright?”

 

I nodded my head still brushing it off as nothing. I was stronger than this. If I could just get my breathing under control, then maybe I could get Peter to stop badgering me and asking if I was doing okay. 

 

“I’m fine Peter. I just can’t seem to catch my breath is all.”

 

I shook my head to shake the feeling. I felt as if there were this weight against my chest. I took a few deep breaths in, but I felt like I was breathing through a straw for some reason. What was happening to me? What’s wrong with me? 

 

“Relax Liv. Take deep breaths in and let them out slowly.”

 

I nodded but it wasn’t working. I was struggling, and Peter could see it. I shook my hands and my head, trying my best to keep myself calm and bring in deep cleansing breaths. I didn’t feel like I was breathing through a straw anymore. But I still couldn’t catch my breath. It was as if my airway was less restricted than it was before. Peter was holding a sleeping Emily who was content in his arms. 

 

“Peter... I still... can’t... seem to... catch... my breath...”

 

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in through my nose and slowly let it out. A little better, but not by much. I tried to turn onto my side, seeing if that would help, but Peter spoke before I could make the move:

 

“Liv I need you to stay lying down on your back. Everything will be alright. Once we get to the hospital, you’ll be fine. Think of it this way, you may have given birth out in the middle of nowhere, but look at this little miracle I’m holding? We have that to be thankful for. Relax. Help will be here any minute.”

 

I nodded my head and did my best to focus on anything else I could. I could hear sirens, but they were barely registering to me. I was blacking out. The last thing I heard before I didn’t see anything more was Peter’s desperate pleas:

 

“Liv you can’t go to sleep. You have to stay awake.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I woke to bright light and a comfortable bed, which was not my own. An iv push was in my hand, and I was frantically searching for Peter. I shifted my eyes to the left of the bed and found Peter sitting in a chair next to me, fast asleep. A doctor was in the room checking Emily’s vitals. She fussed, but this didn’t seem to wake Peter up. I shifted in the bed and crossed my eyes only to notice I had nasal oxygen being administered to me. At least I could breathe now. Peter’s head shot up and he looked at me with an expression that was a cross between worry and confusion.

 

“Thank god you’re awake Liv. It was touch and go for awhile. When we got here, you started having a seizure. It was terrible. Despite that happening to you, doctors say that everything is alright. Your vitals are stable, and everything else checks out. They said that I’d done everything that I could right. They’re checking on Emily right now. I’m just glad you’re alright Liv. Your sister and Ella are waiting outside. They wanted to see you and the baby real quick before they left for Hawaii.”

 

A tall doctor by the name of Doctor Erikson had the biggest smile on his face as he placed Emily into my arms. She was wrapped in a soft light pink blanket and she was fast asleep now. 

 

“Emily is a perfectly healthy child Olivia. She’s a healthy 8lbs and 6oz. Her heart and lungs sound good. I’d say you have your husband to thank for such a smooth delivery. He handled himself very well. He’d make a good doctor.”

 

Peter only gave Doctor Erikson a nervous smile and looked down at the sleeping Emily in my arms. As Doctor Erikson left the room, Peter followed. I traced Emily’s tiny nose with my left index finger and noticed the plastic hospital bracelet around my wrist. Emily had one to match as well. I put on my mask of calm and smiled at Rachel and Ella as they came into the room. Rachel was the first to speak.

 

“Oh my god Liv! She’s beautiful! What was it like having her out in the middle of nowhere?”

 

I smiled at Ella who was cautiously peeking over the railing of the bed at the sleeping Emily in my arms. 

 

“It was scary.”

 

Ella smiled at me quietly from her place on the other side of the bed. She wasn’t sure what to do.

 

“Emily’s really cute Aunt Liv. Can I hold her?”

 

I knew what was coming. Rachel was going to scold her for asking me that very question.

 

“El, I think we should give Emily some time to adjust to Aunt Liv first. Okay?”

 

I smiled down at Ella, and she climbed up onto the chair and sat in it. She was watching Emily closely. She’d opened up her beautiful green sparkling emerald eyes and was staring straight at me. She was getting fussy. Her little arms began to flail, and I knew that she was hungry. 

 

“Ella, I’d love to let you hold Emily, but right now she’s getting hungry. I have to feed her. Maybe next time you come see her, you can hold her ok?”

 

Ella nodded her head and walked out of the room with Rachel. Peter sat back down in his chair to the left of my bed. A nurse helped me undo my hospital gown just enough so that Emily could get to my breast. It was strangely shocking at first, hearing and watching her suckling, and yet I’ve never felt more at peace with myself than I do right now. She was the real miracle out of this whole strange incident. But the real question is, where were the people that were in the car pulled over on the side of the road? Cops were still searching for two missing bodies of teenagers from the greater Boston area. 

 

To Be Continued...


	12. Wilted roses and worsening symptoms

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 20th, 2012

 

The purple roses have wilted within a week of getting them, and Emily’s symptoms have returned. Full force it seems now. Her coughing fits don’t stop despite the medicine she’s being given. I hold her in my arms now trying to comfort and stop her crying when I notice something strange was going on with her left leg. It kept jerking in different directions. Her screaming only got louder as it continued. Supporting her head with my left hand and my right arm around her small body I rocked her, hoping that she’d calm if I at least did that. Peter noticed too from the rocking chair and asked me:

 

“What’s going on with her leg Liv?”

 

I shook my head, not sure what was going on. Closing my eyes I rocked my screaming infant some more trying to keep her calm. 

 

“Shh, it’s alright sweetheart. Mama’s got ya. She’s got ya. What’s the matter Em? Peter this is really starting to scare me.”

 

Peter carefully took Emily from my arms, careful not to tangle himself in the iv cabling and held her the way I had, left hand firmly but gently cradling her head up against his shoulder. With the other arm wrapped around her body. She cried still, coughing more. 

 

“Could be involuntary muscle spasms? Could be something to do with the nervous system too. This is starting to scare me too.”

 

We’d agreed to have Walter stay with us for the duration of the time we were down here. His room is directly across from ours. Walter had just come back into the room from getting hot chocolate from the machine down the hall. He set down his steaming hot cup of hot chocolate on the table next to Emily’s heated crib and asked for his granddaughter from Peter’s arms.

 

“Hand me my grandchild son. I want to see her.”

 

Peter only nodded his head and placed the screaming Emily into Walter’s arms. Her screaming had stopped, but her crying continued. Peter pulled me into his lap in the rocking chair. I wasn’t sure if it could hold our weight. Walter noticed Emily’s spasming left leg and told us what was on his mind. 

 

“Hmm. What’s going on here I wonder? Involuntary muscle spasms, indicative of a neurological disease. Don’t quote me on that son. Should still have her doctor take a look at her.”

 

Peter and I nodded our heads and looked at the nurse that kept her eye on Emily most of the time. Ana took Emily from Walter’s arms, and she began to scream her head off, crying and coughing more and more. Walter seemed to sadden and the look in his eyes made me want to burst into tears, but being strong, I held them back.

 

“Such a beautiful child you brought into the world Olivia, and yet she suffers. I would hate to lose a wonderful grandchild.”

 

It was times like these I wished my mother were still here. She’d know just how to help me with Emily. Everything’s just been so confusing. Between me giving birth to Emily in the middle of nowhere and her getting sick, it’s been really hard to adjust. I got up from the rocking chair and let Peter get up. Walter seemed lost. Peter knew just how to comfort him.

 

“Walter everything’s going to be okay. Look I have an idea, let’s go down to the cafeteria and get some of that coffee cake you like so much. Besides, I need a cup of coffee.”

 

Peter pulled me in for a kiss, a slow one that lingered afterwards and he tasted sweet. I gave him my best reassuring smile I could. Once they left the room, I turned my attention to Ana and Emily. Emily was still screaming. Doctor Sanchez came into the PICU and had the nurse lie Emily down on the counter. He watched her spasiming left leg for a moment, and then took a penlight flashing it in each of Emily’s eyes. I watched as she shut her eyes and rubbed them with her hands. She was cranky and tired, and she was hungry. 

 

“I cannot tell what’s going on with her until we run more tests. We’ll run some tests to see if this is something Neurological. I’m hoping this isn’t the case though. I know you and your husband, and your father in-law are getting increasingly frustrated with all these tests. But each one we perform, we get that much closer to finding out what it is that your daughter has. Just give us some time. We’ll figure this out.”

 

I nodded my head, but I was on the verge of tears. I excused myself and went to the bathroom locking myself in the stall. I let out a long sob and covered my face with my hands. I snorted a little and took a piece of toilet paper and wiped my nose with it. Drying my eyes, I came out of my barricaded stall and stood in front of the surprisingly clean sink. Looking in the mirror, I saw the face of a woman who was hardly unrecognizable to me. The circles under the eyes and the paler than pale skin. The red irritated eyes that stared back at me said that they needed more rest than they’d seen in weeks. I realized this woman I was looking at in the mirror, was me. 

 

To Be Continued...


	13. No rest for the weary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 27th, 2012

 

Emily’s worse I fear. Her doctor’s have run hundreds of tests, coming up with nothing. The spasming in her left leg has gotten worse and now her arm started twitching this morning. They gave her something to help her sleep so that they could put her on a C-pap machine brought over from the NICU. Ever since Walter had suggested that it might be a neurological disease, he’s been working closely with Doctor Sanchez and several other doctors’ on Emily’s team to come up with a solution to Emily’s predicament. Still, they are no closer to finding out what Emily has than when we arrived here almost two months ago. Emily still has a will in her to fight this though. She shows us every day. I didn’t know how much longer I could keep it together, though I knew how important it was for Peter, Walter and I. So many sleepless nights worrying over Emily were taking a toll on my mind. What scared me the most though, was how even though Emily was asleep, her leg still spasmed and her arm twitched. 

 

She seemed so still in her unconscious state. I stuck my clean hand through the bars of her heated crib and stroked her little fingers gently with my index finger. Being a mother now felt different. Rachel would always tell me how wonderful everything was when Ella was born, and that raising her had been both trying and yet it made her feel good at the same time. I enjoyed being a first-time mother and all, and sometimes I did feel anxious or even scared, but that was a normal part of being a new parent right? Peter stepped into the room with two fresh cups of coffee. He smiled tiredly at me, and I did my best not to show that I was barely hanging on to my sanity. My eyes betrayed me though. I said nothing to Peter as I gratefully took the steaming cup of hot coffee with a little milk and two sugars in it. Blowing on it through the plastic lid, I took a cautious sip. I was shaking like a leaf and Peter could see it. 

 

“Hey Liv, it’s alright. Everything’s going to be okay. Walter and Doctor Sanchez are working around the clock to find out just what this is. Emily’s a fighter, just like her mother.”

 

Peter set his cup of coffee down and cupped my chin with his hand for a moment. I was so tired. I didn’t know if I could stay awake much longer. It’d been days since I’d seen a good night’s rest. I knew that even with a mother’s love, it would not break the illness that Emily had so easily. It was mother’s love and spiritual awakening that I hadn’t believed in years that was helping me through all this. Peter still refused to believe, though Virgen de Guadalupe visits him every night in his dreams. I wanted so badly to light another candle for Emily. Padre Fernandez said he’s been praying for her. He’d said:

 

“Emily is such a sweet and innocent child. God will watch over her and Virgen de Guadalupe with all her grace and humility will help you come to a sense of peace.”

 

I was certain now that she existed and that god existed too. I would not let heaven take my daughter though. It wasn’t her time yet. It couldn’t be. I wanted so much to stay by Emily’s side, but this place was so confining, and I felt it was suffocating me sometimes. I had to get out. Go back to the church and light another candle for her, and I was taking Peter with me. He’d be surprised how many people there had loved one’s who were sick, and then there were those who were grieving over the loss of a child. I wanted to light a candle, but I was just so tired. I hadn’t even noticed I was falling asleep against Emily’s heated crib, my head up against the slats of the crib. The C-pap machine beeped and startled me awake. Peter himself had been dozing off in the rocking chair next to me, and seemed startled by the machines wild beeping. Ana readjusted the sequences on the machine and turned back to her paperwork. Though as much as I really disliked leaving Emily here in the hospital, I knew that Walter was with her. Peter and I need sleep. As I got to my feet I noticed that I was having trouble standing up-right. Peter steadied me by the crook of my arm. But before we left the room, the both of us reached in and gave Emily a kiss on the forehead. She’d be asleep for awhile still. When we reached the hotel and our room, I was too tired to do anything, and yet somehow I managed to pull on my sweats and Northwestern t-shirt. I crawled into bed and sleep was threatening to overcome me. I felt Peter climb in beside me, pulling me towards him in a strong and steady embrace he spoke into my hair tiredly.

 

“A nice soft bed would do right now Liv, but this is all we got. I could sleep for a week. We’ve got to get more sleep. For Emily’s sake. She feels that we’re tired, so we need to rest as much as we can. She’ll get better we just have to give Walter and Doctor Sanchez and his team some time to come up with a cure.”

 

Though I was physically and emotionally tired, I couldn’t get to sleep. My mind kept racing in circles. I moved my head against Peter’s bare chest and tried to get comfortable. It seemed like every five minutes I’d be looking at the clock. 2:30 a.m. I was just dozing off when Peter moved slightly and turned over onto his side. I was forced to find comfort in my pillow. Lumpy as they were I wasn’t going to complain. They were the best we could get right now. I never told Peter this but, I cried myself to sleep every night, not knowing what could happen to Emily at any one moment. She was my flesh and blood. She was our flesh and blood. Nothing was going to take her away from us. Nothing. I was starting to feel strange, I don’t know if it was just the lack of sleep or the stress but, I was definitely not feeling myself. Despite dozing for who knows how long, I stumbled out of bed and went over to the bathroom sink, turning the light on next to it, I saw my reflection in the mirror. It was paler than before, and sweat was beginning to form over my forehead and face. The strange feeling of breathing through a straw was now back. Gripping the sides of the sink, I desperately tried to compose myself. I had to get a hold of myself. Keep Peter from worrying about me. I could beat this. I was shivering and shaking like an earthquake. My lungs were burning and screaming out for air, but this feeling of breathing through a straw wasn’t helping me much in the way of things. I felt strong hands on my back suddenly, and looking into the mirror I saw Peter looking at me with concerned eyes.

 

“Liv you ok? What’s wrong?”

 

But when I went to answer him, all I got out was a wheezy:

 

“I’m fine Peter.”

 

He shook his head no at me, determination in his eyes. Gritting his teeth a little he gave me his answer.

 

“No you’re not fine Liv. This is the second time you started breathing like this. Is it worse than before? Worse than right after you had Emily? Just let me know, thumbs up if it’s better than it was, thumbs down if it’s worse.”

 

With my left hand, I pointed my thumb down towards the ground. The room around me was becoming dark and then I didn’t see anything more.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Now I was really worried. Olivia was starting to sound like Emily, minus the coughing though. What the hell was going on here!? As Olivia was wheeled past the lab, Walter opened up the door, his eyes went wide and he got very worried:

 

“Peter! What’s happened to Olivia?”

 

Shaking my head, I only had time to rush my words out:

 

“I dunno Walter! We’ll let you know what we find!”

 

Liv looked much smaller as the doctor’s kept administering oxygen to her as we got to the emergency room. I never left her side. I felt like things were finally falling apart. I held it together though as best I could. They’d taken her shirt off and taking her vitals one at a time. A blood pressure cuff had been placed on her arm and a nurse was taking readings from it. I held onto Olivia’s limp hand, it felt strangely cool. Then a pit began to form at the bottom of my stomach, but I didn’t let it fully form, Olivia would be alright. She was tough and could get through this. I couldn’t look at the doctors as they began to tube her. They’d told me she wasn’t able to breathe on her own she intubation was needed. I felt my nose beginning to flare, but I had to keep strong for Liv. She and Emily both needed me right now. I was suddenly angry. When all the doctors had place Olivia into another room, I unleashed my anger on a chair and threw it at the door. If there really was a god, then why was he so cruel? How could he let something like this happen to Olivia? My family? 

 

To Be Continued...


	14. Pointing back to the srouce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 3rd, 2012

 

Liv’s been awake for a week, but she still can’t breathe without the help of a ventilator. Walter’s been in every few hours to check on her. It took a week but, her leg has started to spasm like Emily’s. My mind is running in a thousand different directions, I don’t know which direction I should go next. I was upset though. I wasn’t surprised to see most of the medical equipment in here was owned by Massive Dynamic. Could they be behind this? All I knew now was, I had to go to New York to find out whether all this was connected or not. I could feel Liv’s eyes staring up at me, and when she tried to take a breath in, the machine began to beep wildly at her.

 

“Take it easy Liv. Let the machine do that for you. I know your not going to like this but, I have to go to New York. I just have this strong feeling Massive Dynamic is behind all this. I’m going to get some answers out of Nina Sharp.”

 

I heard Liv try to attempt at a moan and then she burst into tears. Her silent tears hurt me more than when she gave out loud wracking sobs. I wiped the tears from her face with my thumbs. Emily is exactly three months old as of yesterday. I’d switch between watching over Liv and Emily. I slept on a cot in Liv’s room, not even willing to leave her side for one minute. 

 

“Just go to sleep sweetheart, and when you wake up, I’ll be right here with you.”

 

When she tried to pick up her hand, I saw that she was having trouble. I placed my own hand in hers and squeezed it. Her grip on my own hand was weak. Tears began to form in her eyes again, she got agitated so easily since this happened. I know she doesn’t like feeling helpless and neither do I. But right now we can’t do anything but make her comfortable. I stayed a few minutes longer and waited until I was sure she was asleep. I’d get to the bottom of this.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Massive Dynamic

 

New York City

 

Entering Nina Sharp’s office always seemed to send chills down my spine. She sat on the other side of her desk practically beaming at me. When her secretary left, her face was a mask of seriousness.

 

“Peter, I wanted to be the first here to say congratulations on the birth of your first child. It must be hard knowing that your daughter is 2,013,138 miles away lying in a heated incubator fighting for her life.” 

 

I’d be curt with her, all pleasantries out of the way. My family’s life was on the line. She couldn’t play coy with me. 

 

“I’ll be frank here Ms. Sharp. I saw that all the medical equipment in the hospital belongs to this company. Is there something you’d like to tell me? Are you responsible for why both my wife and my daughter are so sick?”

 

Nina sat in front of me, seriousness written all over her face, but I knew under that thing mask lie the truth. 

 

“Well there isn’t much point in dancing around the issue at hand here so I’ll just get to the point and tell you. Olivia gave birth to your daughter near mile maker 62 right?”

 

I nodded my head, but confusion contorted my face at the moment.

 

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

 

Her eyes seemed to darken, and I knew that something would come out of all this.

 

“Usually when I have my men spray pesticides on the trees in that particular area, they use crop duster planes. But on that particular day, we were spraying a denser part of the forest and I had my men go on foot in protective Bio-hazardous suits. You see, the pesticides we use aren’t harmful to the trees themselves, it’s to kill a certain type of fungi that grows and is killing the trees slowly in that area. Human’s however, if inhaled, the pesticide acts as a neurological disease. Lucky for you we have the cure here, in our labs. Now, I can give you the cure no strings attached, but there is only enough for your daughter Emily. I’ll give you the cure and a list of ingredients you’ll need to make another dose for Olivia. How is she doing by the way?”

 

Though it looked as if Nina had a concerned expression on her face, I didn’t know if I really believed her or not. I’m sure she’d done things in the past that were just as bad as this. I only gritted my teeth at her and glared her down. 

 

“If you really must know Ms. Sharp, Olivia’s been on a ventilator for a full week. Emily has been on a C-pap machine a little longer than that. So many tubes going in and out of Olivia. She can’t even use the restroom by herself. How would you feel if something like that happened to you?”

 

Nina only gave me what amounted to a saddened expression. I wasn’t quite sure if I believed her expression or not. She loved to play dumb when the occasion called for it. 

 

“Very uncomfortable Peter, as you might imagine yourself if you were in her position. I’ll have one of our doctor’s come and give you the cure and the list of ingredients needed to make the extra dose for Olivia.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Santa Rosa: Sacred Heart Hospital

 

I’d hurried back to the hospital as fast as I could. Going into the lab where Walter and Doctor Sanchez and his team were, I handed Walter the blue vile that held the cure for Emily. Handing him the list of ingredients needs for the next batch for Olivia Walter’s eyes lit up:

 

“Is this what Nina gave you? I’ll have to take a little sample of it to make sure it really works. She can be quite the deceitful characters sometimes.”

 

That I knew well. Little did I know though, things were about to get more deep and involved than ever before. That included the doctor’s working here. 

 

To Be Continued...


	15. Hidden secrets comes to light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

My eyes were tired and yet I couldn't for the life of me fall asleep. I had become used to the machines beeping and making different kinds of noises that were attached to Olivia. Opening my eyes I turned over on my cot and scooted it closer to the bed. Olivia looked so small in that hospital bed, monitors tracking her every vital sign and then there was the ventilator. Every now and then it would hiss as it gave Olivia the much needed oxygen. I sat up momentarily and tucked a single piece of disheveled hair behind her ear. She opened up her eyes and blearily looked at me. She tried smiling, but her lips had become so chapped and cracked it was hard for her to smile. Instead she could only frown at me. She looked a little uncomfortable. But because of the ventilator down her throat she couldn't tell me what was bothering her. I'd have to guess. 

"What is it Liv? Is something uncomfortable?"

 

Liv only nodded her head and desperately tried moving her limp left hand to point. She couldn't so much as lift her arm off the bed. We were in for the long haul, seeing as Walter still had to find all the ingredients Nina had given me a list of... I saw her wince and point towards her twitching left leg. 

 

“Your leg? Is that what you’re trying to tell me baby?”

 

Liv shook her head no ever so slightly. It took a lot of effort on her part, but she finally pointed in the direction she was trying to tell me.

 

“Oh, that is uncomfortable. I’ll get a nurse in here to change that catheter.”

 

Liv turned her gaze away from me, holding her tears back. I knew she felt ashamed, but there really wasn’t anything to be ashamed about. None of this was her fault. I shook my head and watched for a moment as her left leg continued to spasm. 

 

“Liv you don’t have to feel ashamed. None of this is your fault. Nina Sharp’s men are responsible for this whole mess. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time when you gave birth to Emily. Remember, she was born a perfectly healthy and normal baby. It’s what the two of you inhaled that made the two of you so sick.”

 

She only looked at me with a pained expression and let one lone tear slide down her cheek. A nurse arrived rather quickly, which surprised me because usually when I pushed the help button, it took them five to ten minutes to show up. I kept the blanket steady over Liv’s unsteady left leg while the nurse went about her business taking out the old catheter and putting in a new one. The nurse Ana, which was the same one taking care of Emily checked and re-calibrated each machine Liv was hooked up to. I heard her try to whimper but the machine only yelled at her as she tried to take a breath in.

 

“Let the machine do that for you Liv. It’s going to take some time sweetheart. Don’t rush it. Walter’s working on making the cure right now.”

 

I saw her relax a little and close her eyes. After a few minutes I knew she was entering REM sleep, her eyes began to move rapidly. Kissing her on the forehead I whispered into her ear:

 

“I’ll be right next door if you need me Liv. I’m going to check on Emily.”

 

When I entered the PICU, it was quiet except for the sound of beeping machines. There were a lot of sick babies in here. Most a little smaller than Emily was. Some should really be in the NICU. I cautiously went over to Emily’s heated crib and stuck my hand in and stroked her tiny head with my seemingly large hand. 

 

“Hi Em, its daddy. You’re going to be all better soon okay? Daddy won’t let anything happen to you.”

 

Emily’s little fingers flexed slightly against my index finger on my right hand. Her grip was still weak, but getting stronger. I looked her over momentarily, and my eyes stopped on her left arm. Why was there no iv in her arm with the cure running to an iv bag attached to the cart next to her crib? I looked for Ana the nurse to see what was going on here. There was no one in the room watching over any of these babies! Another nurse came into the room and smiled at me, letting my anxiety wan just slightly. But that didn’t explain why Emily didn’t have the cure running through her. I stroked her head gently and took my hand out of her heated crib. Walking up to the nurse, I smiled asking her:

 

“Mi hija Emilia estan muy infermo. Ha supuesto ser tratada con una droga especial para curar su enfermedad neurológica. Pero yo no veo su conseguir el tratamiento que necesita.”

 

(My daughter Emily is very sick. She's supposed to be treated with a special drug to cure her neurological disease. But I don’t see her getting the treatment she needs.)

 

The nurse nodded her head at me and went to speak to Doctor Sanchez. I ran a tired hand through my hair and watched Emily carefully from the rocking chair I was sitting in. It worried me though; Emily’s cries have become almost silent. It’s like her voice has disappeared. A crashing noise and people yelling from down the hall caught my attention. It sounded like it was coming from the lab Walter was working in with Doctor Sanchez. Going out into the hallway, I found several people going in different directions, and it seems the lab had caught on fire. Walter saw me and looked panicked:

 

“Son! Someone’s set fire to the lab! The ingredients and the cure we were working on are destroyed! You have to get another sample from Nina quickly Peter!”

 

Walter and I noticed someone staring at us from down the hallway. It was Doctor Sanchez and he seemed the least bit disturbed by what was happening. The blood in my veins were at a boiling point and I suddenly found myself charging at Doctor Sanchez with the force of a large football player. Knocking Doctor Sanchez to the ground, he only smirked at me:

 

“It took you long enough to figure out what was going on Mr. Bishop. I would love to see the look on the real Doctor Sanchez’ face right now. Oh wait, I can’t do that, I killed him. Your wife and your daughter are, our main targets. It’s because they are both gatekeepers between this universe and the other. I’d get in to see your wife if I were you. She doesn’t have much time to live. Her ventilator has been shut off. No way you can fix it; I had one of my men fuse it together so that it wouldn’t turn on.”

 

My blood already boiling in my veins under my skin I made a dead sprint to Olivia’s room next to where Emily was. I had to hold back a choked sob as I looked at Olivia’s flailing form. I rushed at the large machine that was still connected to Olivia. Finding the on button I flipped the switch. When that did nothing, I tried again, and then again, and again. When nothing happened I looked the large machine over, it had been fused shut so that no one could open it and take a look at what was wrong on the inside. It was safe to say that the machine was now a piece of junk. Useless to help anyone now. I also noticed the blue tubing had been cut from the machine... Who would do something like this? A bunch of doctor’s came in and rushed Olivia into the ER and I followed. Walter was at a loss as to what to do:

 

“Walter, stay with Emily. I’ll let you know when Olivia is stabilized.”

 

Walter only nodded his head at me somberly and went the direction of the PICU, making sure he’d gone through the door I turned my attention back to Olivia whose eyes were fluttering open and closed every few seconds. I grabbed for her hand:

 

“Stay with me sweetheart. Don’t go to sleep. You’ll be alright, just hang in there.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Olivia had to have the old tubing removed because it had been damaged and re-intubated again. I sat with my head in my hands in a chair next to the bed; I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. It was tearing me apart from the inside out. I’d been holding all the grief and pain in for so long I had to let it out. So grabbing for Liv’s hand with my own, I lie my head on top of it and cried, I cried for what seemed like years or maybe even centuries until my tears dried up.

 

To Be Continued...


	16. Cures and miracles roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

May 12th, 2012

 

The light in the room was very bright, and the machines look three times brighter than they normally would. It seemed strange the way things looked and I wasn’t sure what to think of all of it. Olivia was off the ventilator and could breathe on her own. She had just opened up her eyes and was smiling at me. I noticed there was purple rose petals lined up in the shape of a cross over her chest. I brushed a hand lightly against her cheek and she closed her eyes taking in the moment. When she opened them up again, I had to lean down close to her mouth to listen to what she was saying because it was only a tiny whisper.

 

“Peter, you have heaven and medicine to thank for making me better.”

 

I certainly had medicine to thank for making Olivia all better, but I wasn’t too sure on heaven though. And what exactly were these rose petals indicating? They couldn’t make her better. They were after all, just rose petals. I looked into Liv’s eyes and told her my thoughts.

 

“Liv, no amount of praying is going to help you get better. Medicine and time will. This is absolute nonsense.”

 

Liv wasn’t happy about what I’d just told her, but I went about removing the rose petal cross from her chest and as I did, she looked at me with frightened eyes.

 

“Peter... Don’t... Do... That... Put... Them... Back... Please...”

 

I could almost feel my face pale as I saw Liv begin to struggle for breath. I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder suddenly and a strong yet soft voice:

 

“Peter, place the rose petals exactly how you found them. They will make your wife well again. Have faith in my son, he’ll heal her. It’ll take some time though.”

 

I was at a breaking point as she took the petals from me and placed them one by one in the order I’d taken them from back onto Olivia’s chest. I sighed in relief when her breaths became normal again. I turned to the tanned-faced woman with tears coming down my cheeks in cascading mini-waterfalls.

 

“But how can I be so certain she’ll get better by the power of prayer? It didn’t save my own mother, so how can it save my wife? My daughter even? How can it? Please tell me how this will work!”  
I

hadn’t meant to snap at her, but I was getting desperate and nothing seemed to be working. 

 

“Have patience and strength son. You will get your answers in all good time. Keep the faith in your heart and you will see the power behind it.”

 

I felt as if I were at a crossroads. I was startled awake by the beeping of the machines. What was going on? There were several doctors in the room and they were all looking to   
Olivia, who seemingly was breathing on her own. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked at one of the doctors that had been working with Doctor Sanchez.

 

“Señor Bishop, your wife seems to be breathing on her own. I’m instructing a nurse to take her off the ventilator. It seems that the heavens have brought you a miracle.”

 

Olivia was looking at me with wide eyes as a couple of nurses raised the bed a little so that she was in a sitting position. I held onto her hand and she held it right back. One of the nurses looked at me and then to Olivia smiling at her. Walter came into the room practically beaming; another nurse must have told him what was going on. The doctor waited on standby as one nurse turned off the ventilator and another went about taking the blue tubing away. All that was left now was the long clear plastic tubing down her throat. Walter smiled at Olivia as the nurse began to take it out.

 

“You must blow very hard Olivia. Like blowing out birthday candles.”

 

Olivia squeezed my hand harder as the last of the tubing came out. She sputtered and coughed at first, and I poured her a glass of clean water. Everything if you wanted to drink it had to be either bottled or boiled first so that it was clean. She drank it in record time. She stayed quiet momentarily as Doctor Romero put his stethoscope up to her back so that he could listen to her lungs. He smiled at her and gave her shoulder a squeeze.

 

“All clear Olivia. Your throat is going to be raw at first, so you must whisper only.”

 

The only thing she was still attached to was the heart monitor and an iv with the medicine was in her hand. She smiled at me tiredly. I leaned down next to her mouth and listened to what she had to say:

 

“Peter. It’s working. The combination of the rose petals and the medicine for this neurological disease seems to be working. I thought I’d never get off that ventilator. Can I see Emily? How is she doing?”  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

 

It felt strange being off the ventilator. I guess it was like being born, I don’t know. I only smiled at Peter as he nodded his head and disappeared into the PICU next door. Walter stayed with me and was sitting in a chair next to the bed. I smiled at his quietly.

 

“My dear, you are very lucky. Nina gave me the ingredients again to make you that dose of the medicine for this so called neurological disease. It should have a name... She’s outside the door waiting... I don’t suppose you would want to talk to her after all that’s happened. Clearly understandable. If I were in your position I wouldn’t want to talk to that woman either. Shall I send her away Olivia?”

 

I only smiled warmly at Walter once more and nodded my head.

 

“Yes thank you Walter, she’s the last person I want to see right now, and I want to thank you for taking such good care of me through all of this.”

 

Tears sprang to my eyes as Peter came into the room with Emily. I held them in check. Walter took that as his queue to leave the room. My heart went to my throat when I saw her. Why wasn’t she making any noise? I looked to Peter frightened.

 

“Peter, what’s wrong with her? Why isn’t she making any noise?”

 

Peter only shook his head at me and placed Emily into my arms. I could clearly see she was crying, and very much screaming, but there was nothing coming out for sound. 

 

“Liv she hasn’t got a voice right now because her condition is more advanced than yours. But she’s getting better. We had to re-administer the cure because one of the shape shifters stole it. She’ll get her voice back. It’ll just take more time.” 

 

Emily was very hungry I could tell. She squirmed in my arms and began to flail. She was upset. It would make me feel much better if I could just hear her voice. Leaning against my propped up pillows, I gazed down at a nursing Emily. I watched her little fingers flex against my skin and her eyes lit up when she saw me smile down at her. I brushed my index finger lightly against her cheek and she smiled up at me. Peter kissed my forehead and sat back in the chair and watched the both of us. Smiling, he put a hand on Emily’s forehead and stroked it gently. She only snuggled closer to me. 

 

“Well, it’s nice to see you sharing such a wonderful and intimate moment with your daughter Olivia. I don’t mean to pry or bother. I just wanted to make sure you were getting the treatment you need.”

 

Startled I looked up to find Nina Sharp standing in the doorway. Peter quickly grabbed for a blanket and draped it over my semi-exposed chest. My face turned four different shades of red, embarrassment was written clearly across my face, but I did my best to hide it. Peter grew angry.

 

“Olivia doesn’t want to see you Ms. Sharp. Now I’ll ask you kindly, to please leave.”

 

Nina didn’t put up a fight with Peter. But she made one last comment as she went out of the room:

 

“You have a beautiful child Olivia. No doubt she’ll grow up be just as strong as her mother.”

 

I had no idea how to respond to that, so I stayed quiet, listening to the sounds of Emily suckling under the green blanket. When she was out of the room Peter turned back to me with an apologetic look on his face.

 

“Liv I’m sorry. Walter told me he tried to send her away. But she just wouldn’t have it. That woman when she wants something, she usually gets it. I’ll ask a couple of security guards if they can stand guard at your door. I don’t want her coming in here unannounced again. That was uncalled for and right in the middle of the most private and intimate moment besides sex.”

 

I only shook my head at Peter and watched as he sat back down in the chair. He carefully took the green blanket that was draped over me and folded it, placing it back on the side table next to my bed. Emily was fast asleep, and I began to pull her away from me. Placing her in Peter’s arms, I straightened myself out. Things were starting to go better, but I had a feeling nothing was done yet. Doctor Sanchez after all, was dead and in his place was a shape shifter. It would never end. But I’d get them. Even if it took every last breath in my body.

 

To Be Continued...


	17. More trouble ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

July 2nd, 2012

 

Emily is officially four months old today. It felt like so long ago since I gave birth to her. For the past two months Emily and I have had the cure for this unknown neurological disease running through our systems and yet, our bodies are growing immune to the properties of the drug. Every day I’ve been feeling weaker and it’s as if I have no energy at all. The twitching of my left leg and arm has gotten worse, and nothing that the doctor’s have given me has worked at all. I also noticed it was getting harder to think. Peter smiled at me as he lightly brushed a hand over my cheek. I smiled back and spoke.

 

“Ca... an have wuter? 

 

Peter looked at me confused, glancing into my eyes worriedly. Before he left the room he attempted to try and figure out what I’d just told him.

 

“Can you have some water? Is that what you’re trying to say sweetheart?”

 

I nodded my head slowly closing my eyes. What the hell was going on here? He kissed my forehead and hurried out of the room, only to come back with Doctor Romero. I too looked at him worriedly. Peter did his best to try and explain what was happening to me.

 

“She asked me if I could get her some water. But she was having a hard time forming her words and they sounded slurred when they came out. I’m not blind; I know that the ‘cure’ for this unknown neurological disease is not working anymore. On her and my daughter. It’s as if they’ve become immune to the properties of the ingredients used in the cure alone. Do you think this could be something to do with the disease? Maybe it’s affecting the speech centers of her brain somehow.”

 

I knit my forehead together in confusion. What was happening to me? I had to know the truth. I grew increasingly frustrated when Doctor Romero shined a penlight in both my eyes. Shaking his head he looked at Peter and I seriously.

 

“We can’t be sure unless we get a Cat-scan of her brain. I’ll inform your father of what’s going on.”

 

Peter nodded his head seriously and shook hands with Doctor Romero. I could do nothing but stare back at him. He settled himself in the chair next to the bed and took my arm for a moment looking at it. 

 

“Liv where did all these bruises come from?”

 

I shook my head slightly, not knowing what to do. I was having a hell of a time forming my words, closing my eyes I felt like I could annunciate better.

 

“I c-c-can’t r-re-re...”

 

I couldn’t finish my sentence because I was so frustrated. I balled my fists tightly and ground my teeth. This was frustrating. Not only could I not think straight, but I could hardly form words let alone speak. Peter kissed my forehead and gave me an understanding look.

 

“It’s ok Liv, we’ll figure this out.”

 

I huffed and leaned up against my pillows. This was ridiculous. Not being able to speak clearly was one thing that was going to bother me. I gave Walter and annoyed but pleading look when he came into the room. 

 

“My dear when did this happen?”

 

To spare myself the agony of trying to tell Walter what happened, Peter saved me.

 

“A few minutes ago. She asked for a glass of water and it came out slurred. She’s having a hard time forming words. She’s not happy about it.”

 

Walter looked me in the eyes, and I did my best to remain brave. This was getting harder every day. I’d be damned if Nina Sharp was still here. 

 

“You would be just as frustrated as Olivia here too if you didn’t have the means to communicate correctly.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I didn’t like being in small places and this was just about as bad as it could get. Getting a CAT-scan was noisy and sounded a lot like a machine gun going off in your ears. I was getting a headache but was trying to ignore it. I closed my eyes and tried to hum, but it sounded strange. Something must be wrong with my vocal chords. The last thing I wanted right now was to get stuck in here... 

To Be Continued...


	18. Face to Face with Newton

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

July 8th, 2012

 

The rain beat down on the weathered hospital building as I tried rocking Emily to sleep. She’s become more and more fussy now, and nothing seems to soothe her. Just like it was in the beginning when she first got sick. She was rubbing her eyes and her face was as red as a tomato. Her coughing comes in spurts once again. I looked over her tiny form as I sat in the rocking chair gently cradling her. She was beginning to bruise just like her mother. It could be some sort of blood clot. She was finally falling asleep when Walter burst into the room. Fear consumed his entire face.

 

“Peter you must come quickly! The doctor’s are taking Olivia into surgery; she has fluid building up in her brain and her spine. They must drain it quickly. Do you think they’d let me help?”

 

Shaking my head no at Walter, I rushed to Olivia’s side as they wheeled her out of the room. She was unconscious but I held onto her hand for dear life as we were practically running down the hallway. Turning back to a helpless Walter, I replied with:

 

“I don’t think so Walter. She’ll be fine.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I was allowed to see Olivia for five minutes before I was booted out. I gave her one final longing glance, kissing her forehead and her hand afterwards. I didn’t want to leave her, but I was no allowed to be in the operating room while they were working on her. Stealing another final glance at her before the door shut behind me I whispered:

 

“We’ll get to the bottom of this Liv. I promise.”

 

Walter was anxiously waiting for me in the lab with another group of doctors. He was looking at me expectantly. The lab was looking better every day; there hadn’t been a lot that could be salvaged though... They were beginning to tape up the walls to start painting... 

 

“Son, how is she?”

 

I took Walter and led him by the shoulder over to a stool in the middle of the room. I gave him a soft smile.

 

“We’ll know in a couple of hours Walter.”

 

He gave me a hard to read expression; I didn’t know how to react to that so I just squeezed his shoulder gently. I felt as if someone was watching us all of a sudden. I looked around the room, suspicious of anyone who might stick out. I found nothing at first. But then my eyes landed on one that didn’t belong in the room with all the doctor’s clad in white lab coats... Newton. It took all my strength to restrain myself from going at his throat. 

 

“Newton, why am I not surprised you’re here? I could kill you where you stand...”

 

Newton only chuckled at me, smirking, which brought out his gray eyes and scar on the left side of his face even more. 

 

“It seems your wife is doing poorly at the moment Mr. Bishop. This gives us the slight advantage over you. Our agenda is very simple, kill the gatekeeper. If she’s eliminated, then we can pass through the two worlds easier without having some rabid FBI agent guarding what isn’t hers... That includes your daughter and your father...”

 

I couldn’t stop myself this time from lunging at Newton. Knocking him to the ground I wanted to spit in his face. I could see Walter standing stock still out of the corner of my eye, not sure what to do next. 

 

“You keep your filthy hands off him and my daughter. If you touch one hair on either of their heads, I’ll personally come after you. You have my word on that.”

 

I turned away for a second to see Walter still standing stock still. When I turned back to face Newton, he was gone. His ability to appear and disappear was uncanny. But the technology they used was more advanced than our own... Walter turned to me with a serious expression on his face.

 

“Son, you’ll be happy to know that we’re working hard on making the cure for this neurological disease work for both Olivia and Emily. Nina wouldn’t have it that me and the team of doctors were changing some of the ingredients to make the cure stronger and more effective. She wants to oversee everything we are doing. If you ask me, the woman is nothing but a nuisance here. She’s distracting and detrimental to our completing the work that needs to be done on the cure.” 

 

I nodded my head and left Walter and the other doctor’s to do their work. I was on my way towards the restroom when Newton appeared to me once again. I gave him a scowl and stared him down.

 

“You know, you’ve really got to stop doing that... What do you want now?”

 

Newton only smirked at me and pointed in the direction of the operating room Olivia was in. My eyes widened as he kept pointing towards the swinging doors. 

 

“I have one of my men in that room at this very moment. He’s disguised as one of the doctor’s and no one would even know it was him, unless pointed out.”

 

I knocked Newton over and went rushing into the operating room. It was strange, they had Olivia lying flat on her stomach and I tried my best to keep myself in check as I saw one doctor draining fluid from her back. Another doctor put a restraining hand on me and steered me towards the swinging doors of the operating room. 

 

“Señor Bishop, we cannot allow you in here without the proper clothes. Please step outside. We’ll let you know when your wife is out of surgery.”

 

I stopped short of going out the doors when another doctor inserted a green substance into Olivia’s iv bag. I pushed past a couple of doctors and made my way towards the man who had inserted the green liquid into Olivia’s iv. My eyes widened even more when her entire body began to jerk in every direction. Poison! I knocked the syringe out of the shifters hands. Then I pointed to three different doctors’ who were standing motionless in front of me.

 

“Stop him! He’s poisoning my wife!”

 

A couple of security guards burst into the operating room as another two doctors went about trying to stabilize Olivia’s convulsing form on the operating table. Seeing her like this tore me apart. My heart leapt into my throat as the monitor flat-lined... No, I can’t lose her! I was steered completely out of the operating room while the doctors desperately did their best to get her heart beating again. I shoved my way into the bathroom and placed myself in front of the mirror. Looking at my reflection, I noticed a change in me. You’re a ghost of a man Peter Bishop. My bloodshot eyes told of sleepless nights that were indeed very inviting at the moment. But I was more concerned about Olivia. What if Newton got to Emily? Or even Walter?

To Be Continued...


	19. More Truths

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

July 16th, 2012

 

Even with guards posted outside Olivia’s room and outside the PICU where Emily was didn’t help put my mind at peace. I took turns going back and forth between looking in on Emily and staying with Liv. Walter bounced back and forth between the lab and the PICU. Sometimes he’d even stay with Liv while I looked in on Emily, though rarely. I’d let Broyles in on what was going on down here, and he’s agreed to send some agents down to look for the shape shifters. What made me nervous to no end though, was having Nina Sharp in the same hospital building as I was. I didn’t like the fact that she always sneaking around all the time. That drove me insane. I gave Liv a kiss on the forehead and she looked up at me blearily. 

 

“I’ll be back sweetheart. I’m going to check on Emily. Walter will be by in half an hour to check on you. Get some more rest ok?”

 

She could only stare at me and blink only because she couldn’t move her head anymore. Blinking her eyes once stood for ‘I love you’, and blinking twice stood for ‘ok’. She put on her best smile for me and closed her eyes, relaxing. I waited until her breathing evened out to leave the room. When I entered the PICU, my guard instantly went up when I saw Emily cradled in Nina Sharp’s arms. I pointed an accusing finger at her.

 

“You! Hand me my daughter immediately.”

 

Nina did nothing to at first, only smirking at me. Giving her a scowl of my own I took Emily from her arms and held her away protectively. Nina could only stare up at me with her piercing blue and deceiving eyes.

 

“Peter, I’m a bit hurt that you wouldn’t let me hold your child. I wouldn’t harm a hair on her head. There is something that you need to be told though...”

 

I didn’t like the sound of where this was coming from. Knowing Nina though, she had a very high ulterior motive. Still in protective mode, I took one step back, but told her what was on my mind.

 

“And what might that be Ms. Sharp?”

 

I sat down in the rocking chair as Emily began to squirm in my arms. She grabbed a hold of my shirt sleeve and sucked on the end of it. I wasn’t sure if I believed the seriousness that Nina held in her eyes and so I kept my guard up.

 

“The longer your father and the other doctors on the team spend working on the cure, the less time and worse Olivia and your daughter Emily are going to get. One of my men was infected with this same neurological disease, and believe me; you haven’t seen the worst of it yet. I won’t release the man’s name to you out of confidentiality but, what Olivia is going through is the ‘ghost phase’. Her left leg and arm are twitching right now, and she has trouble speaking, she can also no longer move or turn her head. Pretty soon, she won’t be able to remember you or anyone around you for that matter, memory loss is common with this disease. That is why it is so vital that your father get the cure done quickly, and not alter its ingredients to make it stronger. I am sure it will work the second time around.”

 

How could I be so sure to believe her? She’d deceived in the past, and I wasn’t about to let that relapse on me again. Hope lie in the cure Walter was working with now, and as I looked down at Emily, I knew time was running out. She was getting weaker every day. Her voice was completely silent, even though I could clearly see her crying.   
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 16th, 2012

 

It’s been two months and Walter is still working with the cure to make it stronger. He’s tested it several different times on some lab rats, but they died within two hours of being administered the cure. Olivia isn’t doing well at all. She’s gotten worse in the past two months. I wanted to will her to remember me as she stares into my eyes blankly. She grew visibly upset when I kissed her forehead. Confusion and fear settled on her face, and I did what I always have since this started happening. I pulled from my wallet a picture of our family. Emily was still tiny when the picture was taken, a week before she got sick. Olivia had been resting in bed while Walter and I sat on either side of her. Her smile bright and proud with all the care a new mother could give. I watched her momentarily as she did her best to finger the picture, and for a split second I could have swore I saw a look of recognition on her face. But just as quickly it was gone. She burst into tears and looked at me helplessly still fingering the picture. I put a hand on hers to try and calm her.

 

“It’s ok sweetheart. We’ll try again later. I know its hard. But you’re strong and you can beat this. It’ll just take some time for Walter to get the cure just perfect.”

 

It tore me apart to see Olivia like this, she was visibly broken, not something I saw very often from her, only because she was a very strong woman who kept her emotions in check. As a husband I have a duty to protect and care for my wife, and as much as it pained me the way she was right now, I was there for her no matter what.

 

To Be Continued...


	20. Administering the cure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

October 16th, 2012

 

Seven long months. That’s how long it’s been. Emily will be a year in five more months. She should be starting to crawl already. She’s spent the first seven months of her life in a heated crib in the hospital. Olivia still can’t remember who I am or anyone else for that matter. She’s as lost and confused as ever. It’s gotten so bad now that she can hardly move and I’m spoon feeding her. It’s hard for her to chew solids, so I’ve been feeding her jell-o. I’d just brought Emily in for a little mother/daughter bonding and was placing her into her mother’s arms; Olivia gave me a confused look. As always, I was there to reassure her.

 

“This is our baby. Emily. As you can see, she’s got your sparkling green eyes, but my brown hair. Maybe my crooked smile too. She’s a very happy baby that loves her mother. Her father spoils her a lot and her grandfather spoils her even more. I remember the night she was born. We were out in the middle of nowhere; I’d pulled over to check on a car on the side of the road with its flashers on. Your water broke and we ended up delivering her in the back of your truck. She turned out perfect. Until she was three weeks old. She got sick. She’d get fevers and then they’d go away. She’d cough all the time. We went to every doctor we could find at Boston General. They didn’t have a clue what she had. So she’s been here for the past several months because she’s sick. We left Boston and went to Mexico City. The doctor’s here are said to have dealt with something like this before. I’m not making much sense to you am I?”

 

Olivia still peered up at me with a confused expression on her face and then back down to the baby cradled in her arms. Emily began to fuss even though her voice was silent now. She was getting hungry, and I knew I’d have to help Liv undo the top of her hospital gown so that Emily could nurse. As I reached towards her, she cowered at me and began to cry looking down at Emily. 

 

“It’s okay; I’m not going to hurt you. Emily’s getting hungry.”

 

It made me wonder: What does she see when she looks at me? Finally I won over her trust and she let me help her. I then helped her position Emily so that she could nurse easier. We both listened to the sound of Emily suckling for a moment. A familiar small smile spread across ‘Livia’s face. Walter burst into the room suddenly, with a broad smile covering his face. Olivia only shifted her eyes downcast and concentrated on Emily. I frowned at Walter, though politely asked:

 

“Walter, do you mind giving us a moment?”

 

Olivia struggled to reach one of her hands out to touch Emily’s cheek. When she couldn’t she became frustrated and looked to me for help. 

 

“I... C-can’t...”

 

I sympathized with her and helped put her hand up to Emily’s cheek, ignoring the fact that my eyes were wandering to her left breast in front of me. I cleared my throat and focused my attention on Emily who had fallen asleep. Liv smiled down at Emily’s sleeping form. I carefully pulled her away from Liv and handed her to the nurse who came into the room. I smiled at her while I helped ‘Livia straighten up. She looked around the room confused and gave me the same tearful glance. The fear on her face was real. All I could do was kiss her forehead to comfort her. 

 

“It’s alright sweetheart, we’ll keep trying. I think Walter has some good news that he wants to share with us. I will be right back I promise.”

 

She shut her eyes and let out a sob. I knew she didn’t like not remembering who people were, or who she was for that fact. She dried her eyes as I came back into the room with Walter. I sat in the chair next to the bed and took Olivia’s seemingly smaller hand into my own and gave it a little squeeze. Her confused expression never left her face. Walter was absolutely giddy with pride.

 

“Son we’ve done it! We’ve finished the cure! The other doctor’s and myself have tested it extensively on some mice in the make-shift lab down the hallway and they seem to be doing quite well. Since we’ve tweaked the ingredients for the cure, it’s changed the coloring of it as well... I hope you don’t mind lavender Agent Dunham. This is going to make you feel a tad bit sleepy. But we’ll have you back to normal in no time...”

 

I looked at Walter seriously at first. I wanted to know how long it would take for the cure to get through her entire system. I squeezed Olivia’s hand again, seeing it as a sign of comfort, and hoping that she’d reciprocate. But she had little to no movement in her hands or body. The disease was messing with the part of her brain that controlled her motor functions. Speaking of the brain, when her brain scans came back about a month ago, she’d had a blood clot that had formed out of nowhere. The doctor’s had managed to stop more blood clots from forming, but they said they weren’t sure whether or not it would be permanent or not. Before Olivia came down with this neurological disease, we were tested extensively by several doctors. Strangely enough, I have not been affected by this disease; I’m neither a carrier either. Olivia on the other hand was both the carrier and one to contract it. Emily only contracted it through the air they both breathed. At first the doctor’s were sure Emily had traces of it while still inside Olivia’s womb, but that theory was ruled out when they found nothing in what was left of the umbilical cord stump attached to her. Shaking my head, I turned my attention back to Walter. 

 

“Walter, how long will the cure take to completely run its course through her entire body? Will the effects be immediate? Or will this be a slow process?”

 

Walter only shook his head at me as he hung the iv bag filled with the lavender substance and connected it to the iv in her hand. I watched as the substance began to flow into her hand at first, and then into her arm and I knew it was flowing into her blood stream. After a few minutes, I found that her eyes were getting blinky. She yawned and closed her eyes.

 

“That’s three questions son. The cure will work its way through her system. You won’t start seeing the effects of it for at least 36 hours. However, a word of caution, it will take quite a few weeks for her to recover. It’s a slow moving substance and since her body is quite a bit bigger than the mice that were infected with the disease and then injected with the cure, they are already starting to feel better. Her leg and her arm will be twitching for a little while longer. But I cannot tell you how much longer. We have to wait and see. It’s really a miracle we’ve gotten this far son... Really it is.” 

 

For the first time in days I smiled. I smiled just like the day when I held Emily in my arms for the first time. I was so busy watching Olivia sleep to notice someone watching me from the window outside Olivia’s room. Nothing was over yet.

 

To Be Continued...


	21. An intruder and a death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

November 2nd, 2012

 

Little by little, Olivia is gaining the strength back in her hands. She’s still frustrated by all of this, but she’s got the will to get back on her feet again. Her will is strong. I was helping her do hand exercises the doctor had given for us to practice on and she began to get flustered. Her words were still slurred when she spoke, but she also stuttered. I knew with time her voice would be back to normal.

 

“S-stop... C-can’t do it...”

 

I smiled at Olivia, trying to encourage her to try again. She only gave a frustrated sigh and did her best to squeeze my hand. There was a storm brewing just beneath those beautiful green eyes of hers. 

 

“Sure you can Liv. I know you can do it. One more time for me.”

 

She stared at both my hand and her own and willed herself to squeeze my hand. She got only as far as moving her fingers a few inches. She could not seem to reach her hand to grasp my own. It made me sad to know that Olivia still didn’t recognize me or the rest of the people working here. Every day I had to re-introduce her to Emily as if she were seeing our own daughter for the first time since giving birth to her. I’d gained enough of her trust so that she would follow what I said. A look of pain and frustration crossed her beautiful face.

 

“Can’t... H-hurts...”

 

I wanted her to try one more thing. We hadn’t done exercises with her feet as much for some reason. But it was important for her to regain the strength and the ability to move her limbs again. She only stared at me as I exposed her bare feet. 

 

“Just try and press your foot up against my hand. I know you can do this sweetheart. Please try for me?”

 

With my hand mere inches away from her left foot I watched her reaction for a moment, and then looked down at her foot. It took a lot of effort on her part just to wiggle her toes. The pain that etched over her beautiful face made me want to burst into tears, but instead I only cleared my throat and watched as she moved her foot a little. She was able to get her big toe to touch against the palm of my hand. She grunted and then stopped.

 

“Can’t... Stop... H-hurts...”

 

I nodded my head in understanding and pulled the blanket back over her feet. My smile faded as I saw the look on her face. Her eyes were wide and she looked as if she were going to cry. I turned around coming face to face with Newton. He showed up at the oddest of times. A gun in my face, Olivia cowered and whimpered in the hospital bed behind me. As Newton cocked the gun in front of me, I took the opportunity to pull Olivia’s gun from my pants and pulling the trigger before he could even get a shot at me. A few cops and a couple of doctors burst into the room. 

 

“Que paso?”

 

(What happened?)

 

I set the discharged weapon down on the table and took Olivia’s face into my hands. She didn’t look at me, just continued to cry. When she did look at me, her eyes were filled with fear.

 

“B-baby...”

 

With that one word itself, it sent me running from Olivia’s room to where Emily was staying in the PICU. There standing over her was a group of shape shifters, ready to inject the same green substance into the IV line as they had Olivia. I did my best to hide my fear. The babies in the room were crying and screaming at the top of their lungs. Surely someone would notice that. One suddenly looked up at me and gave me an evil grin. He was holding the syringe filled with the strange green liquid, I dove for it, but just as I did, he plunged the syringe into Emily’s IV line. I heard her begin to cry at first, her voice was coming back. Cops came busting into the room, and following them was Broyles. I quickly took the IV from Emily’s arm and carefully picked her up. She was almost a year old, but she didn’t know how to hold her own head up. Time and the right nutrition would help. She kept crying at first as I rushed her down the hall to find another doctor that was part of her team. Her cries only got louder and more desperate as I hurried down the hall. Finally I found Doctor Gutierrez; he took Emily from me with question marks written all over his face.

 

“Que paso mano?”

 

(What is it brother?)

 

I swallowed momentarily as I placed a hand over Emily’s forehead and stroked it. I only pointed to the needle marking where the IV line had been attached, showing him the strange green substance. He nodded his head seriously, but I knew that behind that face of seriousness he was afraid. He’d been the one who had treated Olivia when it was injected into her system. My heart leapt into my throat as Emily began to seize. Not my daughter too. Please don’t let her die... I couldn’t leave her side. She was my own flesh and blood! Following Doctor Gutierrez, we entered the emergency room and I was given the proper clothes to change into. I stood back as a few doctors went about trying to stabilize Emily’s condition. I could do nothing as they went about giving her many different injections. Tears came to my eyes, but they did not fall. I ignored the fact that Nina Sharp had entered the room. My sole attention was only on Emily. I closed my eyes when she began to cry again. That was when I let my tears fall. 

 

“That’s my good girl. Let daddy hear that good strong cry. That’s my girl.”

 

Nina’s voice alerted me that she was still in the room. I wasn’t happy that she was there, but I knew that she was there to put in her two cents worth. 

 

“You have my deepest apologies for what is happening to your daughter Peter. You know I have nothing but the highest hopes for her. She is her mother’s daughter. I have a team of researchers working on the green substance that was injected in both Emily and Olivia back at Massive Dynamic. We do know that its poison. But it may be something from the other side.”

 

I watched momentarily as Nina pressed a few buttons on her phone. Her smile seemed genuine, but I wasn’t one to trust her. She wasn’t trustworthy in my opinion. Doctor Gutierrez carefully placed Emily into my arms and spoke.

 

“Your daughter is stabilized Señor Bishop. We’re going to keep monitoring her to make sure that she doesn’t go into another seizure. Her breathing and heart rate are stable.”

 

I looked over her with loving eyes and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She opened up her eyes and smiled at me. She giggled at me. Another one of her doctor’s attached an IV line to her and Walter came in with more of the cure. He attached the purple liquid to the IV cart and stroked her cheek with his index finger. She snuggled and looked up at me with a smile as bright as the sun. Walter smiled at me, but frowned at Nina.

 

“What are you still doing here Nina? You aren’t helping any being here. Go home.”

 

I knew that there was a storm brewing between Walter and Nina so I stepped back from the two. Emily was my number one priority right now. Shaking my head, I looked at them. 

 

“Would you two give it a rest? The most important thing right now is Emily and Olivia. We’re dealing with those shape shifters as best we can. Broyles has agents on look out for them all the time.”

 

Walter and Nina nodded their heads at me. He took such care as he handled Emily in his arms. I watched as he looked at her coloring. I saw him frown as he touched her cheek with his finger once more. 

 

“Her coloring is good, but her core body temperature isn’t even close to being normal. I would like to take another blood sample from her. There are still some tests we’ll need to perform on her. I’ll also need to know how her and Olivia are responding to the cure. It’s been working so far, but I’ll have to make sure that their bodies aren’t making antibodies to fight against the cure.”

 

I looked to Nina’s phone when it made noise. She looked down at it and smiled a little. I eyed her suspiciously. She looked to me and stated what was on her phone.

 

“Ah Peter. Looks like my researchers have found that the green substance that Olivia and Emily were given is indeed poison. They can’t figure out what kind, but it’s advanced and something we’ve never seen before. It comes from the other universe and is used by the shape shifters. We only found out it was them because we gathered a syringe from one of the sites where the last shape shifter was taken out. There is one more thing you must know Peter. This disease only affects women and children. Primarily those with say, special powers. Since Olivia was treated with Cortexiphan, and Emily was passed on this ‘trait’ from her mother, which makes them especially vulnerable to it. One of my men that was exposed to it was just an unfortunate side effect. He was in direct contact with it. He wasn’t wearing personal protective equipment the day we were spraying that particular part of the forest. So he was double exposed, skin contact and he breathed it in. His outcome I fear was the worst. He died within weeks of exposure to the chemicals used to rid the trees of this specific tree rot. Olivia and Emily got it just by the air they were breathing. I am here to undo the damage that’s been done to you and yours. You have my deepest apologies and know that Massive Dynamic and I are doing everything we can to make this right again. If Emily has suffered any permanent brain trauma or is permanently disabled in any way, we will cover any costs associated with her care. You have my word on that.”

 

I grew angry at Nina Sharp. Then my attention went to Emily who was looking up at Walter. She was still smiling. There was nothing wrong with Emily. She was perfectly healthy. How could she even say such a thing? Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone. In the corner of the room I saw Virgen de Guadalupe staring at me with kind and soft brown eyes. Before I knew what I was even doing, I fell to my knees and began to bawl. Normally I wasn’t like this, but something had changed in me for the better. Looking into the eyes of Virgen de Guadalupe, I knew now that she was real; there was no doubt in my mind that would tell me otherwise. 

 

“Do not cry my son. You are forgiven. Things are about to change. You will see. Look for signs. And remember, I will always be with you. Remember that always.”

 

When she disappeared, I found Walter looking at me with wide eyes, Nina I wasn’t sure what the look on her face was, but I knew this, I was certain that heaven and god existed. I’d seen what I’d doubted since the first day down here. 

 

To Be Continued...


	22. More evidence revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

Flashback

 

“Blood pressures dropping quickly! Diminished breath sounds on the left side! Let’s get some oxygen, 20% to start. Not liking the breath sounds of the newborn, let’s get her started on some oxygen...”

 

Everything was so foggy around me... What was going on? What was wrong with Emily? More importantly, what was wrong with me? Her anguished cries and her strangled breathing were starting to scare me. Through fuzzy vision, I saw Peter to the left of me, holding my hand and stroking my hair away from my forehead. 

 

“Liv, everything’s going to be alright. Relax. I’ve got ya.”

 

I groaned and tried to turn onto my side. Why did I hurt so much? One of the paramedics gasped and kept staring at me. What was he staring at? I saw him grab for a bunch of towels off to the side somewhere. I looked at the paramedic who had grabbed for the towels in front of me.

 

“Olivia I need you to stay still. You’ve got some hemorrhaging we need to get under control.”

 

I nodded and tried to keep still. The pain only continued though as the minutes pressed on and the ambulance sped towards Boston. The paramedic with the towels gasped again and kept looking at me and then to Emily as if he’d seen a ghost. I looked at him more concerned this time. What did he find?

 

“What is it? What are you looking at?”

 

The paramedics face was as pale as a ghost. He kept shaking his head in denial. 

 

“Olivia, did your doctor neglect to tell you, that you were having twins?”

 

I immediately sat up trying to get a good view of what was going on. I looked to Peter with scared eyes and he only stared at the paramedic with awe. 

 

“What!? What do you mean I’m having another baby?”

 

Peter gently pushed me back down on my back and gently cupped my cheek momentarily and then looked behind the quickly darkening sheet covering me. 

 

“We had no idea, nothing showed up on any of the ultrasound scans. Is the baby ok?”

 

I tried to muffle a scream through the oxygen mask over my face, and when the pain got worse; I grabbed onto Peter’s coat and held on tight. I tried to relax, but the pain was making me tense up. The paramedic continued his work while Peter watched.

 

“I’m beginning to see a head ‘Livia. Dark hair, looks brown to me. You’re doing great sweetheart. Just a little longer. I know you’re tired, but we’ll be done soon.”

 

Nothing made sense right now, and especially the baby that was being born right now. Why had I not known about this one? Why had this baby hidden from me? Why? There were a million questions still running through my mind when a baby’s crying filled the back of the ambulance, one much weaker than Emily’s. Peter’s smile fell instantly. He got tears in his eyes as he looked at the frail baby, a boy that the paramedic held in his arms, still covered in blood. His skin was a strange color and he had strange rashes all over his tiny body. Watching still with fuzzy vision, I saw Peter gut the umbilical cord. 

 

“ ‘Livia, we have a son...”

 

His voice was grim, and I could almost hear his heart breaking at the sound of our son’s anguished cries. 

 

“Mr. Bishop, we need to get your son to Boston General. He seems to be showing signs that he’s very ill.”

 

I wanted to cry more, and I did. Now I had two babies that were in trouble. Emily was having trouble breathing like I was, and her brother was crying as if something were hurting him. Things were a blur when we got to Boston General. I was wheeled in one direction, while Emily and my son in another. Peter and I hadn’t even had the chance to name him yet. I wanted to call him Adán. Would it be sacrilegious of me to call him the Spanish form of Adam? Peter never left my side even when the doctors told him he had to leave the emergency room. He convinced them to let him stay. While they were working on me, I made the mistake of looking over into the next room only to find a group of doctors working on my little boy. His cries still evident and ringing throughout the room and into the next I could do nothing to soothe him. Not even mother’s milk would soothe his anguished cries. The doctor’s looked clueless as to what to do with him. I fought against the doctor’s who were working on me and tried to get up, knocking over a tray of different instruments. 

 

“I have to see my son! Where have you taken my daughter Emily? Where? I want to see my children! Let me see them!”

 

It took several doctors and Peter to hold me down. It’d been a little over an hour when another doctor from the next room came in, taking off his face mask. His lips in a thin grim line and a machine in the next room alerted me that something else was not right about my son. I tried getting up once more and going to my son, but Peter held me down. The doctor looked at me somberly and told me what no mother should have to hear about her child:

 

“I’m sorry to tell you this Olivia, but despite our best efforts, we couldn’t save your son. Your daughter is up in the nursery in the maternity ward and you may be able to see her when you are feeling up to it... I’m sorry for your loss.”

 

Peter lost it then, and began to throw trays of instruments to the ground. Doctor’s were about to call security on him when he stepped into the next room to see our son. I watched from the window in the other room as he sat in the chair next to the exam table and wept, holding our sons light body in his arms, because his spirit had flown away before it could even begin to flourish. I began to scream my own screams of anguish. Today had become shattered innocence. Time would tell if things would get better, but little did I know, they would only get worse...

 

To Be Continued...


	23. Miracle of the purple roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

February 2nd, 2013

 

Emily was getting better, but something in the back of my mind told me that there was something else going to happen. Olivia was in no condition to take Emily to Virgen de Guadalupe’s shrine, so I was. And I was walking the full way there. All four miles. I carefully walked into the Intensive Care unit and found that Emily was fast asleep. At 11 months old, she still couldn’t hold her head up, and her muscle tone isn’t great. She can’t even sit up. I reached into her heated crib and picked her up. She was getting heavy. I quickly detached her from all the wires covering her small body and wrapped a blanket around her to keep her warm. Walking to the doorway, I peeked out it slowly. Just as I stepped out, I could see a very determined Olivia walking towards me with the help of the railing on the wall. She could speak full sentences now, but she stuttered every once in awhile. She remembered who I was, our life together. All of it.

 

“Peter, where do you think your going with E-Em Emily?”

 

With one arm supporting Emily, with the other I reached for her cheek and stroked it with my hand. Hope written across my face.

 

“I’m taking Emily to Templo Mayor. I’m lighting a candle for her. I’m going there so that I can think. And to hopefully get some answers.”

 

Walter came out of the lab down the hallway towards Olivia. Olivia still couldn’t walk very far without having labored breathing. He was very concerned.

 

“Olivia dear, you should get back into bed. Child you must not exert yourself so much. I don’t like the sound of your breathing. Let’s get you back into bed. Come on now.”

 

But Olivia was stubborn. She kept coming towards me until she reached a hand out and touched Emily’s cheek with her hand. Emily opened up her pretty green eyes and let out a long and loud wail. She was hungry. 

 

“Sweetheart your hungry aren’t you? Ok, let’s just go back to mommy’s room and get comfortable.”

 

Olivia began to take Emily from my arms, but I stopped her. She gave me a confused look. 

 

“Olivia, I really think we should start putting her on a bottle. She’s getting too big to be breast fed.”

 

Olivia only shook her head no and grabbed Emily out of my arms. With one arm wrapped around Emily, the other arm held onto the railing with her hand. I followed her back into her room and watched as she carefully climbed back into bed with her. Walter smiled, watching from the doorway. I listened to Olivia’s endearments to Emily.

 

“That’s my good girl. You’re a feisty hungry little girl aren’t you? Ok, slow down sweetheart. Mommy’s got to get comfortable here. There we go.”

 

I saw Olivia wince momentarily and look down at Emily, shifting position and pulling her away a little, causing her to scream in distaste. 

 

“Liv, what is it?”

 

Olivia looked up at me for a second and looked into Emily’s mouth. We both could see two small teeth coming up through her gums. 

 

“Peter, she’s teething. It’s probably why she’s screaming so much. I think your right; we should probably start putting her on a bottle. When she’s strong enough we’ll probably have to take her to physical therapy. I mean, she can’t even walk yet! She can’t even hold herself up, let alone any kind of muscle tone.”

 

I nodded my head at Olivia and rubbed her back momentarily. We’d get through this we always did. I watched as Emily fussed in Olivia’s arms and cried even more when she shifted her. 

 

“Peter, she’s hungry, we should make her a bottle.”

 

I took Emily from Olivia’s arms and covered herself up again. Walter came into the room and took his granddaughter from my arms. 

 

“What you need is a nice bottle.”

 

Walter was so good with her. Emily quit fussing for a minute and yawned looking up at him with her large green eyes. He frowned and looked at her more. 

 

“This child is strong, with a little more time, she’ll be completely healed. Now, I may have found the reason why it was so advanced in my grandson, and why it caused his untimely death.”

 

Walter put a hand on Olivia’s shoulder, and I tried desperately to hold my emotions straight. 

 

“Walter, I don’t think that’s wise to be bringing this subject up right now.”

 

I could tell from the tightness in Olivia’s throat she was about to cry. Olivia suddenly became angry, but not at Walter, in general. 

 

“You tell me what happened to my son...”

 

Her teeth were clenched tightly and her words were filled with anger. We’d both lost a son not just her. A grieving mother should not be messed with. 

 

“Somehow, the virus was spread to him through your blood stream and into your placenta. He was affected because he was the smaller one of the two. Now my reasoning here is that when you inhaled the airborne pathogen it spread quickly through your blood system affecting the boy first because he was smaller, Emily only had trace amounts of it at first and didn’t show up completely until three weeks later.”

 

Walter was now feeding Emily a bottle, and she was eating it hungrily. At least she was getting her appetite back. Her arm would twitch every now and then, so the disease wasn’t completely gone. It’d moved to her arm from her leg. Emily was still given the antidote for Sharp’s Syndrome and was going to be taking it until she was better. In a matter of minutes Emily was done with the bottle Walter had given her and she was sound asleep in his arms. Walter carefully placed Emily in my arms and kept the blanket wrapped around her. 

 

“I’m taking her to the church. I’m lighting that candle we never lit for her. I need a place to think and clear my head. I’ll bring her back Liv. I just need to get some answers. I really need to know if she’s real or not. You know, Virgen de Guadalupe. I just really need to do some thinking.”

 

Olivia squeezed Walter’s hand and brushed back a few tears. Emily’s sleeping form was my only way of knowing that she wasn’t hurting. At least not right now. We needed a miracle. And I was going to find that miracle; I’d just have to try harder than everyone else. Walter turned to me and spoke.

 

"Son, keep Emily close to you when you go outside. The air in this city isn't kind to the children and the elderly. The smog and pollution can cause respiratory issues. We'll be so lucky if it rains... High doubt of that happening, since it is still the dry season..."

 

I nodded my head in agreement and walked over towards Olivia, giving her a kiss on the forehead. She stroked Emily's nose with her index finger and Emily snuggled into the crook of my arm. 

 

“You be good for daddy. Mommy loves you. You'll be all better real soon sweetheart.”

 

I left the room, but not before giving Olivia a longing glance. Giving her a smile, I stepped out of the room and walked down the hallway with Emily's sleeping form in my arms. As I made my way out of the hospital and into the bright sunshine, I noticed it wasn't as warm as I'd originally thought. I leaned Emily more towards me to shield her from the air. Walking along the streets of Mexico City, I knew I had to be careful. A few women eyed Emily in my arms, but I paid no attention to them, knowing they were only eyeing her for one reason, and one reason alone. Four miles was the longest trek I'd ever taken in this city, the biggest city in the world with over 8 million people... Emily wasn't a healthy weight considering she was 11 months old. The last stretch of my trek, the last mile my legs were burning, but I had to get to the church. I quietly padded into the church and sat up in the front pew, it was extremely quiet and it was dark except for the hundreds of candle's glowing in the dark... 

 

I wanted to think, and thinking was what was going to help me through all this, but then suddenly I broke down, regardless of Emily's sleeping form in my arms. The tears spilled out of my eyes and began to fall onto Emily's blanket. I turned away for a second, not sure if I was completely here or not... I needed a miracle, and one that would save my crumbling family. Straightening myself out, I looked down at Emily’s sleeping form. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. I stroked her cheek with my index finger and she snuggled against me. I felt a hand on my shoulder suddenly, and I looked at it. It was barely noticeable, but it was still there. The smiling face of Virgen de Guadalupe greeted me when I looked up into her eyes. 

 

“She’s going to live. Emilia’s going to live. I want to show you something. The air is clean where we’re going.”

 

Before I could protest, she took me by the hand and lead me out a door just to the back of the church and I found the lighting outside was different. It was as if I were looking at the outside world inside a dream. Everything was in a soft white light, like when a person uses soft focus on a camera. There seemed to be nobody around except for the three of us. The air was fresh and clean here. Emily began to cry suddenly, and I rocked her a little to see if she’d stop crying. I looked up into the soft brown eyes of tan-faced woman in front of me. She held up a purple rose to her nose and smelled it. Then a baby appeared in her arms. Her smile grew brighter as she looked at the tiny baby. 

 

“Peter, do you not recognize your own son? We’re taking good care of him. He’s not in any pain I assure you. He’s quite happy.”

 

My face paled momentarily as I stared at the healthy looking baby in her arms. I couldn’t believe my eyes. His skin wasn’t that strange red color and there were no bruises. He had a strong cry. The tan-faced woman and I traded babies. Emily went into her arms, and Adán into my own. He was perfect in every way. Tears came to my eyes as Adán opened up his beautiful green eyes and stared at me. 

 

“Hi baby, its daddy. I wish you could stay with me and mommy, your sister Emily and grandpa... But I know you can’t... We love you... We always will...”

 

Adán grabbed onto my finger and squeezed it. His grip was strong... My little boy... I wept both tears of sadness and of joy... 

 

“Now do you believe my son? I’ve given you a chance to see your son, healthy and alive... I know what it’s like to lose a son Peter. I do... When my son sacrificed himself for our sins, he did it out of selflessness. That’s why I’ve given you the chance to see your son... His time on Earth was short and so I’m making that up to you. Spending a little time with him will help you see the miracle of life. Something that can be taken away in an instant if you’re not careful.”

 

I knew it was time to say goodbye to my son, I couldn’t hold onto him forever, though it still hurts that he’s not with us. With his mother and I. I nuzzled Adán with my cheek momentarily and his fingers began to unwrap from my finger. He looked up into my eyes and then he began to shimmer. A golden light surrounded him and then he was gone. It took all my inner strength to hold my emotions in... I’d finally gotten to hold my son in my arms, alive and breathing, and he’d had the most breathtaking green eyes I’d ever seen. They had been greener than his mother’s. I knew I had to let him go, and this time it was easier, knowing that he was safe and that he wasn’t suffering anymore. 

 

“How could an innocent child leave this world? If god does exist, why would he take my son? He hadn’t even begun to live his life yet!”

 

I was weathering a great storm that was brewing inside of me. It was beginning to well inside and it was soon to spill over the top. It was threatening to spill over the top, but I was determined to hold it back... I felt a small soft hand on my shoulder. I looked over at Emily, who had been placed in a soft bed of baby rosebuds. 

 

“My son, sometimes life takes the turn for the unexpected. Your son was a miracle. You and your wife had no idea he was tucked inside her womb until he came into the world. He just wasn’t strong enough. But you have my word that he is well taken care of and he is with everyone you have ever loved. Your grandparents send their warmest wishes and congratulations on Emilia’s birth. They miss you. They miss you even though they never met you. Emilia will be well, but she will have a long path ahead of her. Wait for signs. You’ll know it when you see the purple rose petals spread throughout the room. You must also spread the insides of a cactus on her chest. Small amounts. Large amounts will clog her lungs. There’s a market stand near the Zocalo that sells cactus leaves. Careful when you are cutting the spines off the leaves, not to poke yourself. Split it in two, and take out the watery-gooey light green substance, little amounts on Emilia’s chest. She’ll start to feel better in about three weeks. I’ll go to the market with you. No child should be exposed to the air of this city.”

 

I took a deep breath of the invigorating air that surrounded me and savored it as I walked down the old stone steps. It felt good to breathe in a good breath of fresh air. The city looked amazing from my viewpoint. You could see for miles and miles. Granted Mexico City was built on vast lake. Lake Texcoco. The story goes like this; Mexico City was built on Lake Texcoco. On that lake was the very symbol of the Mexican flag: An eagle sitting on a tree branch with a snake hanging from its beak. And today it brands the Mexican flag with all its pride and glory. I lived down here for quite a few years so I know a little about the history and its people. That’s another story entirely though, one that Liv doesn’t know about. We were almost to the market place and I noticed that it was full of people. The tan-skinned woman stayed with me while I asked the man inside the stand for the cactus leaves.

 

“¿Cuánto sean las hojas de cactus?”

 

(How much are the cactus leaves?)

 

The man smiled at me and handed me a bundle of ten held together with a rubber band. I pulled out 50 pesos from my wallet and handed it to the man.

 

“Cincuenta pesos. Aquí, tómelo.”

 

(Fifty pesos. Here, take it.)

 

The small robust man inside the stand gave me a shocked look as he took the Money from me. In return he thanked me.

 

“Es mucho señor, pero gracias.”

 

(This is a lot sir, but thank you.)

 

When the small robust man tried to give me my change, I only shook my head and walked away. The tanned-face woman still following me back to the hospital. She kept the air clean for me by a barrier. I couldn’t believe how fresh the air felt going into my lungs. When we made it back to the hospital, I noticed that I was the only person that could see Virgen de Guadalupe. That is until I came into Olivia’s room and her eyes glistened over with tears. 

 

“You brought my baby back. Will she get better? What do we have to do?”

 

The tanned-faced woman only smiled at Olivia and placed Emily into her arms. Emily cooed and snuggled into Olivia. She started to whine a little and opened up her little green eyes and stared up at her mother. 

 

“What this little one needs is time to heal and a remedy that the native peoples have been using for centuries. A little bit of the green liquid from the inside of a cactus leaf and it’ll dispel the sickness from her body. Not too much, it’ll cause her lungs to be congested. Small amounts are best. And you must place the petals of the purples roses that grow in my garden on top of her chest. It’ll help her heal faster.”

 

I watched as Olivia stared back into Emily’s tiny green eyes, searching for an answer to all this madness. I saw the tan-faced woman take the thorns from the cactus leaf expertly as if it didn’t hurt her. She never once had to adjust her glowing green cape with the golden stars draped over her head and secured around her neck. She seemed to tear the cactus in half with her bare hands instead of cutting it with a knife. Putting the green semi-liquid onto her index and middle finger, she opened up Emily’s blanket and placed some onto her bare chest. Emily coughed momentarily but then her congestion cleared up slightly. Olivia placed a hand on Emily’s tiny head and rubbed her forehead momentarily. 

 

“That’s my good girl. That’s it, take in a good breath. Good girl. Relax and close your eyes. Mama’s right here. Mama and daddy and grandpa are right here. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

 

The tan-faced woman smiled and ran her index finger along Emily’s cheek. Emily snuggled into Olivia’s chest and closed her eyes grabbing at the fabric of her nightgown. She began to make a sucking sound with her mouth and found a way to her mother’s breast grabbing onto her through her clothes. Olivia whimpered slightly and pulled Emily away, eliciting an angry cry from her. Olivia looked up at Virgen de Guadalupe and gave her a lop-sided smile.

 

“Would you like me to send your wonderful husband out of the room so you can share a moment with your daughter?”

 

Virgen de Guadalupe’s soft brown eyes nearly pierced my own as she looked at me. I didn’t protest and found myself out in the hallway. Walter came up behind me when he saw me standing there in the hallway.

 

“Son? Why are you standing out here for? Did Olivia kick you out?”

 

I shook my head no and pointed to the window. Walter looked into the window and gasped. His reaction was one I could quite read as he stared at Olivia and the tan-faced woman in the room.

 

“My eyes must be deceiving me or I’ve had too much Brown Betty. Is that the Virgin Mother? It can’t be... Can it?”

 

I only shook my head and walked back to the lab with Walter trailing behind me. This was going to be a long night.

 

To Be Continued...


	24. Cures and bonding agents

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do not own any of the Fringe characters. But I do own a few original ones.

April 2nd, 2013

 

Emily was a year old now. I just couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t long before she began to stir in her metal crib. Opening up her emerald eyes she stared straight at me.

 

“Dada.”

 

Walter had given her the cure, this time finding the right ingredient, which attached itself to amino acids in the body. Olivia sat next to me in the wooden rocking chair. Carefully picking Emily up, I placed her into Olivia’s arms. She babbled and drooled, doing her best to hold her head up. She was getting stronger every day, thanks to Walter’s cure. Her head wobbled as she tried to hold the weight of it. I smiled and called her name.

 

“Em look at daddy.”

 

Emily found the strength to turn her head towards me and smile. A huge grin plastered on her face she began to bounce in her mother’s lap. She began to cry when she slipped a little. Olivia did her best to console her.

 

“It’s ok Em, mama’s got ya. She wouldn’t let you fall ok? Look, daddy has your special bear. Daddy has beary.”

 

Emily took beary by the arm and stuck it in her mouth, sucking on it. She laughed a little and smiled at me once more with her head on her mother’s shoulder.

 

“Dada...”

 

Walter came into the room a smile plastered on his face. Emily’s face lit up when she saw Walter. Olivia and I chucked a little as she did her best to reach her arms out towards him.

 

“Gampy!”

 

Walter took Emily from Olivia’s arms and sat her down on the counter across the room. Olivia and I stood next to him. 

 

“Emily child, can you open your mouth and stick your tongue out? Like this see?”

 

Emily copied Walter and stuck her tongue out. Walter stuck a tongue depressor in her mouth and she began to whine. Olivia caressed her cheek a little and showed her beary to distract her. Walter then quickly took the tongue depressor out of her mouth and smiled. 

 

“It appears my granddaughter is on the mend! Very active already this one, and strong just like her mother.”

 

Walter placed Emily back into Olivia’s arms, and I couldn’t help but watch her tiny and sweet little face staring back at me. Emily was our light, our very reason for living. Doctor Santos, Emily’s other doctor, came into the room and smiled at us. He too took Emily from Olivia’s arms and placed her onto the counter. 

 

Placing a stethoscope onto her tiny chest, he listened to her heart. Pleased with his results he placed the stethoscope back around his neck and tested her reflexes. She reacted and started to play with her feet. Giggling, she started to blow bubbles. The few teeth she had coming in, she tried to chew on her bears arm. 

 

“She sounds perfectly healthy. Normal reflexes. We want to keep her here for a couple more weeks. Then she could go home.”

 

Olivia and I both smiled at Doctor Santos and shook his hand. I picked Emily up and hugged her. She yawned and leaned her head against my shoulder. Her eyes were beginning to close, and as they did she whispered:

 

“Dada...”

 

I smiled and rubbed her back. Soon, her breathing evened out, telling me she was asleep. I placed her back into her metal crib and covered her with her purple blanket with the stitched-in light purple butterflies. Olivia reached in a hand and stroked her forehead. Emily held onto beary tightly in her sleep, not willing to let him go. Olivia looked over at me and smiled.

 

“Peter we have so much to be thankful for. We didn’t think she would live through this, but this proves that she has a very strong will to live. I think it’s the combination of Walter’s cure and the cactus that is helping Emily get better. We also have someone upstairs to thank too. Whether you still don’t believe or you do.”

 

I’d never told Liv I’d saw our son Adán when I lit the candle for Emily, and that Virgen de Guadalupe had shown me the way. Smiling I gave Liv my answer.

 

“Liv I never told you this, but, when I went to light another candle for Emily, Virgen de Guadalupe showed up behind me. She took me up the stone steps into her rose garden. 

 

Plucking a simple purple rose from one of the bushes, our son Adán magically showed up. He was healthy, and he wasn’t in any pain. She’d given me the chance to see our son again.”

 

Liv began to cry next to me. Tears glistening in her eyes she took my hand.

 

“Peter, when she sent you out of the room with Walter, and Emily was asleep in her basinet, she pulled a purple rose from her green robes and smelled it. It turned into Adán. He had the most beautiful emerald eyes I’ve ever seen. He was so calm in my arms. It’s like he knew I was his mother. For thirty whole minutes, he was mine again. His tiny hands reached up for my shirt and grabbed a hold of it. He whimpered, but he never cried. I even got the chance to feed him. It was different from when I fed Emily. He couldn’t have been more than 6 pounds. But I am grateful that she gave us the opportunity to say goodbye to him. I know that he’s in a good place now.”  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
March 2nd, 2014 

 

All of Emily’s medical bills have been paid for by Massive Dynamic. I am gracious to Nina Sharp for that, but not so gracious for the fact that Emily and I had been exposed to a chemical to destroy tree rot. It wasn’t the shape shifters that had infected us like I had originally thought. They were just using it as an opportunity to kill both me and Emily. Emily is having ongoing physical therapy, which has helped a lot. She can now stand on her own and walk a few steps. But the fact that she is two now, and just learning to walk has made me a bit sad. She’d spent a whole year in the hospital. She’s missed out on things normal babies took part in. Physical therapy has been hard on her, but now with Walter owning Massive Dynamic and all, he only provides her with nothing but the best. Nina Sharp and I have come to a mutual working relationship where we can tolerate each other. I don’t know why she’s taken such an interest in me. Peter was holding Emily up under her arms to help steady her when Nina Sharp came into the room.

 

“Peter, Olivia. It’s nice to see such improvement in Emily. She looks much better than the last time I saw her.”

 

Peter completely ignored Nina and focused his sole attention on Emily. Once she was stable on her feet, he let her go. She wobbled a few steps and then fell.

 

“Dada, Emmy fall down!”

 

I got down to Emily’s level and coaxed her to her feet. 

 

“It’s ok baby girl. Get up. Try again. I know you can do it.”

 

Emily pushed herself from the carpet and stood up with still wobbly legs. She took two steps towards me before she collapsed into my arms. She began to cry again.

 

“Mama, Emmy no do it... Emmy no walk...”

 

Emily was frustrated, but we had to keep trying. She grabbed her ears and tugged on them when she was frustrated and began to get angry. I pulled her stuffed bear Beary from a bag behind me and her face lit up.

 

“Beary!”

 

She stood up with the ‘help’ of Beary and took a few more steps. When she made it closer to Peter, she squealed and laughed. 

 

“Dada, Emmy walk!”

 

Emily made it the whole way to Peter and clapped her hands dropping Beary in the process. But that didn’t matter. She was still standing. Peter scooped Emily up into his arms and kissed her, hugging her tight. 

 

“That’s my girl! You did it! Daddy and mommy are very proud of you! Go to mommy.”

 

Emily turned around and picked Beary up off the floor and slowly toddled her way towards me. I pulled her into my arms when she got to me. 

 

“Somebody needs a diaper change.”

 

Emily only giggled at me.

 

“Mama funny...”

 

Once I had her changed, I saw her yawn and lean her head against my shoulder, holding onto Beary tight. Her eyes were closing, and I placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Nina had   
left the room, and the only two people in it, were me and Peter. Looking in the window to the room on the door, was the face of Virgen de Guadalupe. Her kind eyes and wonderful smile told me that everything was alright. For now at least. Our fight wasn’t over. I knew that more shape shifters would be sent to try and assassinate me. If not me, then Emily. I had to protect her at all costs. Even if it meant giving my life for hers.

 

The End


End file.
